The Darkness in Me
by ObjectiveObserverFromAfar
Summary: In one fell swoop they were gone, murdered by the Governor. Natalie Michaelson now had only one thing to live for...Revenge. *Slightly AU, slightly canon to the comics and tv show. Rated M for violence, lots of zombie killing, swearing, and some sexy times. Follows from after the CDC. Possible/eventual Daryl/OC*
1. Prologue

_Five days post-outbreak:_

_"Momma, why can't we go to Grandma and Grandpa's anymore?" Cory had his nose pressed up against the glass, staring at the line of cars going down Route 80. Natalie and Mark exchanged a worried glance and she turned around in her seat, replacing her worry with a neutral gaze._

_"We thought it would be better to just get to the nearest safe area baby. Augusta will have shelters we can stay in."_

_Cory frowned, "But can they come meet us there then?"_

_Natalie wasn't sure how to respond, but chose the comforting mother route. "They think they'll be safe at home in Charleston baby. We'll get to meet a bunch of new people in Augusta."_

_At this Cory smiled, "More kids?" Natalie reached back and tickled him in the ribs._

_"What, less than a week with us and you're sick of hanging with your parents?"_

_Cory giggled and slapped his mother's hand away. "Momma, stop, stop please!" He continued giggling and Natalie leaned back over the seat, giving him a kiss on the forehead. She started back to the front seat and Cory grabbed her hand, the blue eyes that mirrored his father's gazing at her intently. "Seriously, they will be ok?"_

_Natalie could feel the lump in her throat but quickly swallowed it down. "Yes baby, they'll be fine." She turned to hide the guilt on her face. The real truth was she called her parents the first day the news came out with reports of widespread panic, that an unstoppable infection was making people crazy, making them attack others. They said it was probably a bunch of media hype. Three days later they weren't answering their phones and she and Mark could only assume the worst._

_Natalie caught a glimpse of herself in the rear view mirror and groaned. Her normally pale, even complexion was now sallow, her hair was dirty, her cheeks sunken in and the bags under her eyes were becoming an embarrassment. Not sleeping, eating, or showering for nearly 72 hours had made her look like the living dead. She risked a glance at her husband and concluded he was in the same state as she. His normally tan and healthy skin from years under the North Carolina sun lacked its usual glow, and his buzz cut, so common for Marines, was starting to grow out more than he would have liked. Mark caught her staring at him and gave her his cocky self-assured smile. Even with the world going to hell in a hand basket, he was still able to smile._

_"You hangin' in there babe?" he drawled, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze._

_"Yes, just thinking how wonderful a shower will feel. Unfortunately some of us weren't blessed with tan skin like yours that can hide dirt and grime from days of not showering. Goddamn my English genes." She paused. "Wonder if they'll even have showers at the shelters in Augusta…"_

_Mark grinned wider, his blue eyes crinkling mischievously. "Well if there's no showers I can think of other fun things we can do...haven't had privacy in a whole week…" He ran his hand enticingly up her bare thigh to the hem of her jean shorts._

_She giggled and swatted his hand away. "Keep your hands to yourself Mr. Michaelson. You need to clean yourself up first. Smelling like ass innards is not my idea of a turn-on-"_

_With a BANG the car shuddered and smoke started rolling out from under the hood._

Five months later…

Natalie bolted upright from the nightmare, her heart pounding, sweat pouring down her forehead. She looked around the cave, trying to orient herself to her surroundings. She could make out her clothes and food in the corner, her gun and stockpiled weapons by the head of her sleeping bag. Taking a deep breath to still her heart, she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her head. She was here, she was safe.

Natalie flopped back down on her bed and stared at the roof of the cave in the darkness, fighting to keep the horrific images at bay. Rolling onto her side she fought to go back to sleep, as she had done every night for the past three months.

_Alone_.

**AN: So, I posted this last week but got some suggestions from my awesome betas and tried to revamp it a little bit. Thank you to them for helping me restructure this into something more enjoyable! Oh, and I hope the restructuring of the story isn't too confusing to those who have already read it, I'm sorry if it is!  
**

**I'm still not quite sure where this is headed but I really delight in an evil governor, especially like the one from the comics. This story will follow parts of the comic and the show, but I am trying to stay true to my OC and her story as well. There will be a bit of a romantic relationship as well, because who doesn't love a little romance? :)**

**I really want to improve so any constructive criticism is much appreciated. I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in this idea but hopefully there are a few out there who will be! Thanks for reading, and I do not own anything Walking Dead except my OC. :)**


	2. Tragedy

**_AN: _****_Thanks to those who have followed and reviewed, I appreciate it. Any constructive criticism/just your random thoughts are welcome :)  
_**

**_I also wanted to address that I know the story gets violent but it's won't be a crazy bloodbath. It's mostly to illustrate the true brutality of the Governor, who is much worse in the comics than the TV show. I'll be using some of the plot arcs from the TV show and comics and the group will be introduced soon. I just want to get my OC established. She has some more developing to do. _**

**_Lastly, disclaimer: I do not own anything Walking Dead. Wish I did, but I don't. I do own Natalie though. That I am proud of. I hope she comes across as good as I hope to make her. I also do not own any song lyrics. Thanks for reading!_**

_Two months post outbreak, near Waynesboro, GA:_

The space in the cave was dark and damp. It reeked of mold and the floor was nothing more than dirt and gravel, which made sitting down that much more unappealing. Mark peered around the corner into the corridor that led out of the cave. The same guard was still posted there, his gun at the ready. They had been here for more than a few hours and based on the lack of communication from those that had put them there, they wouldn't be getting out any time soon.

Mark walked slowly along the walls of the small space, scanning for any weak points that they might be able to break down so they could get out.

"_Stupid_," he thought to himself, "_Can't break through rock_."

He paced back and forth, running his hands through his sandy-blonde hair, his agitation growing as he realized the seriousness of their predicament. Over 10 years of Marine training had taught him hyper-vigilance and the warning bells were screaming in his head. Something was wrong, very wrong. With frustration he kicked the front of his heavy combat boots against the side of the cave, the sound reverberating off the walls. The noise caused the heads of the woman and child seated on the floor to look up from the book they were reading. The woman's deep brown eyes locked on him..

"What the bloody hell Mark…" Natalie started, her heavy English accent only emphasizing the irritation in her tone. She wrapped her arms protectively around the small child in her lap, flipping her chestnut brown hair out of her eyes with a toss of her head. He sighed, walking over and sitting down.

"Natalie," he drawled her name softly in his Southern twang, trying to keep himself calm and not piss her off any more than he already had with his mini-tantrum. "You know somethin's wrong. We've been sittin' here for over six hours, at least accordin' to my watch. Why haven't they come back for us?"

Natalie furrowed her brow at her husband. "We don't know anything yet Mark. They didn't hurt us or anything, just told us to wait here and they would come back soon."

Mark glared back at her. "Yes, but they _blindfolded _us and held us at gunpoint. That doesn't scream 'very, very bad' to you? We've been with this group over two months since shit started and suddenly we're prisoners. What the hell is goin' on?"

"There's nothing we can do at this point but wait. Now please just sit down, all your pacing is making me _and_ Cory nervous." She turned her head back toward her son and brushed his sandy blonde hair, very similar to his father's, out of his face. "Cory, baby, you doing ok?"

Cory looked up at his mother from the book he had become absorbed in again. His eyes looked over her face thoughtfully. "I'm fine Mama. But can we please go back to the book? We just got to the good part where Matilda figures out her powers."

He was referring to the book they had been reading the past few hours, _Matilda_, by Roald Dahl. Natalie sighed, opening the book. She managed to grab it from their tent before they were taken to the cave. She wasn't sure why she had taken it, but she was grateful now that she did. Even though it was Cory's favorite story and he had heard it at least twenty times, he never tired of it—and it was keeping his seven-year-old brain busy right now.

Mark took a seat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. She immediately felt that sense of security that always came when she was in his arms. Even after ten years of marriage, she loved him even more than she did on the day they had married, the day after high school graduation. Mark had left for basic training two weeks later, and they had lived an idyllic life ever since. Well, as idyllic as being the wife of a Marine could be.

"How's your scratch?" He asked, his hand running over her left shoulder where the two-inch scratch had now started scabbing over.

"It's fine," she said. "I told you earlier, nothing to worry about. I'm more worried you're going to give yourself a heart attack with all your fussing."

She smiled up at him and kissed him on the tip of his nose."If your brow creases any more you're going to have ugly little wrinkles in your forehead."

Mark smiled down at her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"I just worry about keeping you and Cory safe, that's all." Natalie leaned her forehead against his, breathing in his scent. Even though they had been in the cave all day he still smelled like earth and rosewood with a slight hint of musk. She felt her chest tighten with pleasure and she reminded herself that when they got of this cave she would get one of the women to watch Cory while she and Mark snuck off. Mark seemed to know what she was thinking and his hand tightened on her shoulder, his breathing slightly quickening. She was still amazed sometimes they had the same effect on each other after so long.

"Momma, Dad! You're messing up the story." Cory looked up at them both disapprovingly, obviously displeased at his dad for distracting his mother from the important task of reading to him. Natalie laughed and wrapped her arms around her son in a tight hug.

"Baby boy, I bet you could recite this story to me in your sleep," her tone was teasing but Cory still looked irked. With a kiss to forehead, she settled herself against the side of the cave. Cory nestled his head in the crook of her neck and she went back to reading. With Mark's arm around her, it would have been the perfect Hallmark image of a happy little family if it weren't for the fact they were holed up in a dingy, damp cave with no explanation at why they were brought there.

They grew comfortable in their position, thoroughly absorbed in the book, when the sound of approaching footsteps caused them all to look up sharply, with Mark scrambling to his feet. They saw a beam of light turn a corner. The figure holding the flashlight walked slowly up to them.

"Why, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, I am so sorry about this mix-up. You were supposed to be being taken care of. Martinez, where's there food?" Martinez, the man who had stood guard, walked forward with a plate of food, "Sorry boss, haven't had a chance to get down here yet. Crowley didn't come to relieve me so I could get them food."

Cory eagerly jumped up before Natalie could hold him and grabbed the plate of food. "Look Mama, biscuits and chicken and green beans…Where did you get this stuff Mr. Martinez?"

Martinez looked down at Cory, his eyes growing warm. It was hard not to love Cory and Martinez had gotten to know the boy well in the past two months. "Got it when we went out on our last supply run."

Cory smiled back at him, "Well, you should take me on your next run. I can help find food we will all like!"

"Ahem." The man standing next to Martinez cleared his throat, causing Martinez to mutter something about things to do and walk out of the space in the cave. "I trust you all are wondering why we brought you here," he stated matter-of-factly. "We—"

"What the hell is the meaning of this Phillip?" Mark started toward the man, his nostrils flaring and his hands clenched into fists at his side. "You take _my_ family, point guns at _my_ family, leave us here for hours on end…and you act like you just want to have a simple conversation?" Mark's voice was getting louder but Phillip didn't even look fazed.

Phillip cleared his throat. "As I was saying, we didn't mean to keep you down here that long. Recent developments have made it clear to us we have to make certain 'arrangements' for your family."

At this, Natalie got to her feet, leaving Cory on the floor with the food. "What do you mean 'arrangements'? We've been pulling our weight with the group. Mark is good with the guns and protecting us from the biters and I've been cooking at every meal for all of you and caring for the children!" She was getting a little hysterical now.

Phillip held up a hand as if to calm her. "We're not kicking you out, don't worry about that. In fact, just the opposite. We are keeping you all here. You have certainly peaked our interest."

"What for?" Mark put his hands on his hips. He was getting tired of Phillip and his smarmy ways. Phillip raised a finger, pointing directly at Natalie. "Her." She felt her face turn hot and she instantly brought Cory to his feet, wrapping her arms around him.

Mark instantly assumed a defensive position in front of his wife and son. "What do you mean, why are you interested in her? There are over thirty other people in this camp!"

To this, Phillip merely grinned, his thin lips stretching back across his teeth. He turned to Natalie. "Mr. Mamet told me he had an interesting conversation with you recently. He said you told him about going into the woods and you encountered a biter. Did that biter scratch you?"

Natalie's hand automatically went to her shoulder, where one of the biters had indeed scratched her a couple weeks before when she had been out gathering berries for a dessert she was cooking for the camp. The biter was quickly disposed of by Mark and she hadn't thought much of it since. Mark told her to keep quiet about it and she had, up until Milton asked about it. It was healing up rather nicely at the point and she didn't see the harm.

"Yes…" Natalie answered.

Phillip's grin grew even wider. "Well, seeing as how you're still alive at this point, that raises some pretty interesting questions for us. Like…why aren't you one of them?"

Natalie shrugged. "It was only a scratch. It must not have gotten deep enough to do anything."

His eyes danced wildly. "No. You get scratched or bitten, it doesn't matter. You turn into one of them. You should be a biter right now, but you're not."

Mark took a step toward Phillip at this point to keep him from talking to Natalie anymore. "Bites and scratches aren't what make you turn. If you die you still come back as them no matter what. We've seen it happen, remember? Penny turned after…"

Phillip's fist flew out and cracked Mark across the chin, and he stumbled back a step. Mark may have been taller and bigger than the other man from years of training, but even a Marine could still be caught off guard by a swift punch to the face.

"Don't you dare say her name." Phillip's voice had gotten dangerously low upon remembering his daughter's fate. He straightened his shirt and continued, his tone harder now. "We're taking her to another part of the camp. You and your boy will have your old tent but we'll keep a guard stationed at your door. Any attempt to escape will result in serious…repercussions."

All of a sudden the space was flooded with a dozen men with guns. Mark shoved Natalie and Cory behind him and lunged at the nearest man with a rifle but the butt of a gun quickly came down on the back of his head. He fell to the ground, groaning and Cory started crying, holding tight to his mother. She tightened her arms around him, whispering soothing tones of "It's going to be okay baby boy, it's going to be okay," all the while staring in horror at her husband lying on the floor.

One of the men grabbed Natalie and another grabbed Cory, ripping them apart. Cory reached his arms out to his mother. "Momma, Momma" he screamed and Natalie strained and kicked with all her might against the men who held her from behind in a strong bear hug. As she was dragged around the corner into the corridor, the last glimpse she had was of the men left in the room, looking down at her husband moaning in a pool of his own blood coming from the wound in the back of his head, and her son screaming for her with fear in his wide blue eyes.

"Where are you taking me? Why are you doing this?" She screamed at the man holding her as he dragged her up the corridor of the cave. A hand tried to clamp onto her mouth and she instantly bit down, feeling the iron taste on her tongue. The man holding her let her go and spun her around forcefully. She found herself looking into the familiar eyes of Schumpert, one of the men Mark worked with every day to protect the camp, his dark eyes looking down on her in fury. Without a word, he raised his hand and smacked her across the face and Natalie saw stars.

"Schumpert, what did I tell you? We don't hurt the women of the camp…" Phillip sidled up to her and she shrank back into the cave wall. "Are you ok my dear?"

"Please Phillip," she begged. "Please, whatever you do don't hurt them."

Phillip gave a small smirk. "I wouldn't dream of hurting Mark or Cory. They are an asset to this camp through and through, as are you. We just…need you to cooperate, for the time being. We don't want to hurt any of you. Schumpert here will take you, _nicely_," he shot a warning look in the direction of the other man, "to where you will be staying. Cooperate, and all will be well." Phillip headed back in the direction of the room the family had been held.

Schumpert put a hand under her arm and started to escort her out of the cave. Natalie pulled back for a moment. "Phillip," she called tearfully, "Why are you doing this?"

Phillip paused mid-stride and turned. He looked her up and down and his eyes turned dark. His turned to walk away but she could hear the words he muttered as they echoed off the walls of the cave, and her heart could only beat faster.

"You're immune."

_Two days later:_

Natalie paced back and forth in the small tent she had been in for the past two days. Her stomach was full from the meal she had just eaten and she was walking just to burn off the excess energy that had accumulated from days just sitting and worrying.

Where were Mark and Cory? Were they ok? Were they with each other or scared and alone? Were they being taken care of? Were they staying out of trouble? The endless questions had plagued her for days and she felt like she was going to jump out of skin. The one thought that gave Natalie comfort was that although she had no idea where they were, judging from the way she was being treated they were behaving themselves like she was. She had been kept fed and happy. She could only hope they were as well.

"_If we just cooperate, we can get through this_, " she thought. Mark was what made her nervous. He was a Marine, and it was ingrained in him to fight. He was not one to sit idly by and wait for something to happen.

A short, pudgy man with glasses entered the room. He carried the aura of one that was never around people very much as evidenced by his constant nervous glances in her direction. He might have been awkward, but he had been nothing but kind to her the last few days and even before that, when she was a part of the camp. "_And not a prisoner_," she thought. Natalie found herself smiling, despite the circumstances.

"Hi Milton. How are you?" She tried to sound positive and friendly like she always did with Milton. He always looked like a nervous rabbit and she felt a little sorry for him. She had been working on getting him out of shell since they met on Route 80, but he never lost his shy, reserved demeanor.

"Fine," he mumbled, and took some supplies out of the black bag he was carrying.

Need more blood?" She pointed at the vial the man was holding. "Better be careful. You're going to make me dry up and then what good will I be?"

She thought she saw the corner of his mouth turn up but it was quickly replaced by his trademark stoicism. Milton motioned her to sit down on the makeshift cot set up in the corner.

"I only need one vial today." He took out a hypodermic needle and located the vein he needed, slipping the vial into place to collect her blood.

"Just one?" Natalie asked, with a hint of sarcasm. Milton nodded, obviously missing her the vial filled the silence in the room was overwhelming. Natalie cleared her throat.

"Do you know how my family's doing Milton?"

"Last I checked they were sitting in your family's tent. They had just eaten and Mark was reading a book to Cory. The looked...peaceful."

Natalie chuckled and Milton gave her a questioning look. "If I know my son, he's forcing my husband to read him _Matilda_ for the millionth time. _Cory_ might have looked peaceful but I'm sure Mark was going crazy on the inside." She sighed. "At least Cory has something that keeps him happy. He can still believe in magic and happy endings when the world has gone to shit around him. He gives me hope."

Milton had been listening to her musings and had a slight smile on his face. "Sometimes 's the only thing we have left to hold on to is hope. It's what keeps us going."

"Amen to that." She smiled at him then and Milton actually smiled back. Suddenly, seeming to remember what he was doing, his cheeks turned red and the smile vanished, replaced with a look of concentration as he moved to bandage her arm. Natalie sighed. So much for her progress in making Milton Mamet less bashful. With the mood change in the room, Natalie chose to ask the question that had been plaguing her the last two days.

"So, any idea on how long they're keeping me here?" Milton shook his head.

Natalie sighed. "I was so hoping maybe Phillip was over this ridiculous idea that I'm immune to whatever the biters are carrying." Milton stayed silent and looked at her sorrowfully. "He is over it, isn't he Milton?"

"Phillip says that something in your blood stopped the infection from spreading. We have to keep testing to see what antibodies you have that protected you from any infections the biters spread." Natalie frowned at this.

"But Milton," she hesitated. Her pause made him look up. She decided to barrel on with the thoughts that had been going through her head. "Penny was shot by those hunters almost two months ago. She wasn't bitten. She just died and she turned into a biter. Doesn't that mean it's something _else_ besides a bite or scratch that makes you turn? I might not even be immune to whatever this is."

Milton stared at her, biting the inside of his cheek. "That's not what matters here. What matters is that you are the first we know of that has survived a bite or scratch," he paused for a brief second. "And Phillip thinks if we can understand what's protecting you…that we can help others, to recover from whatever this thing is. Give people hope."

His blunt assessment of her importance in Phillip's quest to "cure" whatever this new virus or bacteria or whatever it was sent chills up her spine. She also didn't miss he had turned her own words about hope back on her.

"But Penny is dead. Mark watched her die after he went with Phillip and Martinez to find her when she ran off. She might have been up and walking around after but she wasn't Penny anymore. She tried to…eat people. She was a biter. Phillip took her away to put her down himself because she wasn't Penny anymore. Whoever people were before they come back…they aren't those people anymore."

Milton looked at her sadly. "But Phillip doesn't believe that. And neither do I. There's something left of the people they once were. A cure will enable us to bring people back from whatever this is."

"The best you can do to see if I carry a cure is to…" She stopped, horrified at the thought. "You'd have to kill me to really see if I was immune to whatever this is. I wouldn't come back if I was immune."

Milton looked at her, his nervous glance now turning into a disapproving one. "Don't be silly. We don't need to kill you. It's just a virus, a sickness. Besides, your blood needs to be fresh to be tested." In true Milton fashion, he had stated a very unpleasant fact in a rather awkward way.

She was going to continue arguing against the flaws in Phillip's and his logic, but all of a sudden she heard shouts and a loud boom coming from outside the door.

"_Oh God no,_" was all she had time to think before Mark burst through the door of the tent. Milton quickly rose and scurried toward the front of the tent, running out the front door before either of them could stop him.

"Natalie, come on, we gotta go NOW!" He shouted. She stood up and ran to him.

"Mark, what have you done? Where's Cory?"

"He's outside with a gun keeping watch, I knocked out the guards by our tent and came to get you. Set off a grenade I got off one of 'em to create a distraction. 'Nough explainin', we gotta get movin'!"

Natalie grabbed his hand and made to exit the tent, when Cory came running into the tent crying. "They're coming Daddy, they've surrounded the tent!" He screamed.

"Mark, they've been treating me fine, please, let's just talk about this." Mark looked at her incredulously.

"Nothing to talk about. They kidnapped you and made us sit in a tent for two days at gunpoint. We're getting out of here!"

Natalie grabbed his arm. "But maybe we could just talk to them…"

Mark shook her off and held her by the arms, "There's no talking to these people Nat. They've gone insane. Think you hold a cure to this whole thing. We're leavin'."

Mark handed Natalie a gun and shoved a large knife sheathed into the waistband of her shorts. "You gotta use these baby, remember the lessons I gave you?"

She stared at the gun in her hand then back into Mark's eyes, which were imploring her intently to follow him, to help him get them both out of this disaster. Natalie didn't hesitate in her decision. For better or for worse, she would die for this man. She would die protecting her child.

Natalie nodded, appeasing him by quickly checking the magazine, putting it in place and pulling back the slide. That was enough of an answer for Mark. He shoved Cory behind them and pointed a gun at the tent opening.

Not more than a second later a man burst through the door of the tent, Natalie's bullet hitting him in the shoulder and Mark's hitting him right between the eyes. She didn't have time to comprehend that she had just shot another human being for the first time before two more men started coming into the tent. Mark took both down. The dead were starting to pile up in the doorway, but still a fourth man tried to climb through the tent opening. Mark's gun jammed and he tried to clear it frantically. Natalie raised her gun to aim it at the man and recognized him as Martinez. This was a man she knew. This man had been a friend to her the last two months. Her aim wavered.

"NATALIE, SHOOT HIM!" Mark screamed. Before she could pull the trigger Martinez had raised his gun and fired at Mark. Mark's blood sprayed in all directions as the bullet entered his shoulder and he fell to his knees, dropping his gun.

"Mark!" "Daddy!" Natalie and Cory screamed at the same time. Natalie automatically dropped her own gun and kneeled quickly beside her husband,. She put her hands over the wound, trying to slow the bleeding.

Natalie felt the cold steel of a gun barrel on her temple and she knew then that she had screwed up in her hesitation at shooting Martinez. "Hands up, very slowly," Martinez commanded. She put her hands up. They were covered in Mark's blood.

"Back away, again slowly." She backed away and saw that somehow in the last fifteen seconds four more men had entered the tent around the bodies and had their guns pointed at her and her family. Cory was on the ground looking around the tent with a terrified expression, tears running down his young face.

She looked down at Mark who was clutching his shoulder in pain but was giving Martinez, the man holding a gun to her head, a murderous look. He instinctively reached down for his weapon but stopped at the voice that came from the entrance to the tent. "If you want her dead by all means continue reaching for the gun." Mark reluctantly put his hands over his head, his eyes burning with a wild fury at the man that just entered the tent.

Phillip walked to the middle of the group and stared down at Mark. "Did you set off the grenade?" Mark remained silent. "Perhaps this will entice you." Phillip walked over to Natalie and held a knife to her throat, a small trickle of blood forming as he pressed the knife into her skin. She whimpered and Mark winced but his expression did not waver.

"Yes I did. She had nothing to do with it. If you're going to go after someone, go after me. "

Phillip pulled the knife away and wiped on the edge of his pants. "See, that's better. I do hate violence but sometimes it's necessary to get the answers you want." He continued looking at Mark, "Did you kill the man that was guarding you?"

Mark maintained his stoic expression, but merely nodded his head. Phillip merely signed. "Now see, that's where we have a problem. I can't just let you get away with that without some kind of punishment. What kind of leader would I be if I just let prisoners go around killing our own?"

Natalie gasped at this. "Phillip, we're part of this camp. Mark would only kill if he felt threatened!" Phillip turned to look at her, almost as if he forgot she was in the room.

"Ah, Natalie, well I know that you _were_ a part of this camp. But as I said, people that threaten our own are no longer considered friends. Do you remember when I said if there was any trouble that there would be repercussions?"

Natalie could feel the bile start to rise in her throat and she started shaking. "Please, if you're going to do something, do it to me. Leave them alone."

Phillip sneered at her. "Now, that would be good revenge on them, wouldn't it? Hurt the woman they love most in the world for their…display. But no, you see my dear, we need you. I know you hold the key to surviving this new world…and bringing back those that were lost." Natalie started to breathe faster. The man was insane and her family was not more than two feet from him.

"Phillip, leave her alone!" Mark yelled, trying to rise to his feet only to get pushed back down by two men still holding guns to his head.

Phillip merely looked at him. "Put them on their knees." He commanded the men. Natalie could only watch helplessly as Crowley forced Mark into a kneeling position, and Schumpert roughly pulled a still-crying Cory into a kneeling position.

"Phillip please, no, you don't have to do this! "Please, I'll do anything you want. Any tests you want to do, I'll do them. You can take all my blood, just please, leave my family alone!" " Natalie screamed. She strained against Martinez who was holding her in a bear hug.

Mark, who was looking rather dazed from blood loss due to the wound to his shoulder, seemed to suddenly notice that Cory was kneeling next to him and a look of horror set over his face. He immediately leapt to his face and lunged at Schumpert, who was holding Cory in place, an inhuman scream erupting from his lungs. The scream was abruptly cut off and turned into gurgling sound, as Natalie watched in horror as her husband crumpled to the ground, the back of his head blown out by a bullet from Crowley's gun.

The tent went deathly silent, but was then filled with Natalie and Cory's screams and cries of anguish, They struggled against the men holding them, trying desperately to get to the dead man that had been their foundation, their savior, their…everything.

Mark's blue eyes, which once held so much life and joy, stared blankly at the tent ceiling. Natalie kicked and screamed and bit, but she could not free herself. Phillip merely walked up to Mark and looked down at him with a disgusted look on his face. He nudged Mark's side with his boot.

"Don't fucking touch him!" Natalie screamed.

Phillip merely glanced at her, then turned his attention to the other person that was the most important in her life. Cory stared back at him with tears running down his face. Natalie came to her full senses then, and every ounce of the protective mother in her reared its ugly head. She sprang forward, out of the grip of Martinez and leapt for Phillip's head. She sprang onto his back and grabbed the knife from the front of her pants. Although the angle was awkward, she swung the knife wildly, trying to stab him, anywhere. The men tried to grab her away and Phillip tried to swing her off but superhuman strength had taken over. With a scream she plunged the knife back toward his head and heard a satisfying squish followed by a howl from Phillip. She let go of the knife and in that instant Phillip hurled her off his back.

Phillip sunk to the ground, the knife sticking prominently out of his left socket. He appeared in shock. To her dismay she could see it hadn't gone in very far, just enough to probably cause damage to his eye. She went to rush forward to force the knife in the rest of the way, to snuff out his life like Mark's had been snuffed out. Strong hands grabbed her before she could move and the barrel of a gun was forced down her throat.

"No," Phillip croaked , holding a hand out to Martinez who was looking at her with a murderous fury. "We need her." He had somehow pulled the knife out and seemed to regain some of his composure despite the fact blood was now spurting down his face from the now gaping eye socket. It truly was horrific.

With Crowley's help, he slowly got to his feet. He was staring at Natalie with a look on his face beyond hatred. His good eye scanned over her and she could only stare back, an uncontrollable shiver going down her spine. Phillip looked away from her and looked toward Schumpert, who was still holding Cory down. Cory had not made a sound through this whole ordeal and was now staring at his mother in horror.

The look of horror was suddenly blown off his face as Phillip, who had grabbed Schumpert's gun, shot Cory through the back of the head, leaving nothing but a gaping, bleeding hole in the front. Natalie's body crumpled underneath her and a small whimper escaped her throat. She could only stare at the bloody corpses that had once been her family lying on the floor of the tent. Without a word, Phillip gave the gun back to Schumpert and exited the tent, the other men slowly following behind him.

They left Natalie alone. On her knees, she crawled towards the bloody remains of her little boy, her baby, past the body of her lover. She pulled the little body toward her and held him close, like she did when he was little. His blood started to soak into her clothes but she didn't notice. She merely rocked herself back and forth, tears streaming down her face, holding her son's corpse, singing to him the soft lullaby she used to sing to him to lull him to sleep:

_Smile though your heart is aching  
Smile even though it's breaking,  
When there are clouds in the sky you'll get by.  
If you smile through your fear and sorrow  
Smile and maybe tomorrow  
You'll see the sun come shining through For you.  
Light up your face with gladness  
Hide every trace of sadness,  
Although a tear may be ever so near  
That's the time you must keep on trying  
Smile, what's the use of crying,  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile - If you just smile. _


	3. Escape

_****__Disclaimer: I do not own anything Walking Dead. Wish I did, but I don't. __****__I also do not own any song lyrics. _I do own Natalie though. Thanks for reading!

_Five days post-outbreak, Route 80_

_"Damn, damn, damn" Mark cursed. He pulled the car over, popping the hood. Natalie signaled to Cory to stay in the car and got out to stand by her husband as he inspected the engine._

_ "Looks like the radiator's shot," he said. Mark kicked the front bumper in frustration. _

_ "Now what are we going to do?" Natalie asked. She scanned the line of cars heading down the road. She was considering flagging someone down when a van pulled up behind them and two people got out. _

_ The one that was sitting in the passenger's seat was a short man with brown hair and glasses, and he reminded Natalie of a rabbit the way he shot nervous glances between her and Mark. He looked like he would run away and hide at the slight hint of a breeze. The driver one was a tall man that looked to be in his mid-forties, with thick dark brown hair and dark eyes, and the slight hint of a mustache on his upper lip. He had sharp, hawkish features and carried the air of an authority figure. _

_ "Y'all having trouble?" He drawled, though it wasn't as thick as Mark's accent. _

_ Mark walked forward, raising his hand in greeting but also putting himself between his family and the newcomers. "Yeah, seems our radiator blew. Not sure what there is out here. We were going to Charleston but figured there might be more shelters in Augusta." _

_ The man nodded. "Well, we were heading out of Waynesboro to Augusta to see about food and supplies but there's a big traffic snarl on Route 25, can't get in or out of the city." Natalie felt her heart drop. It was Atlanta all over again. _

_ "We're trying to get around Waynesboro at least at this point and meet up with my brother Brian. He's got more families with him. People were getting sick in Waynesboro and we all had to evacuate. They're thinking of setting up a camp out there till this thing blows over. There's not a hotel within twenty miles of here. Well, that's open anyway. We'd be happy to give y'all a ride. If you like you can stay for a few days, get your bearings. This is Milton Mamet-" the man gestured in the direction of the other man who had not moved from his place by the car. "Sorry about him, he's shy around people. That in the backseat is my daughter Penny." _

_ He gestured to the van and a little girl, who looked to be no older than Cory, was poking her head between the seats and watching them shyly. She was pretty, with blonde hair and delicate features, in contrast to the sharp features of her father. Natalie silently wondered where the girl's mother was but she drew her attention back to the man. _

_ The man smiled with affection at the little girl and turned back to them. "And I'm Phillip Blake." _

_ Mark looked between the two men and the child. He seemed to be assessing the situation, and made an executive decision. "I'm Mark, Mark Michaelson, and this is my wife Natalie. Our son in the car, his name's Cory. Probably about the same age as your little girl there." _

_ Mark took Phillip's outstretched hand and shook it. "We'd be grateful for a ride. And if you need us to do anythin' we'd be happy ta help pull our weight." _

_Phillip nodded and headed towards his car, gesturing towards Milton to get in. As he opened the driver's side door he called to Mark, "Your family can take the back two seats with Penny. And don't worry. We'll take good care of y'all."_

_Two months post-outbreak, Phillip's camp:_

Four days, according to the lighted face of her wristwatch. Four days, three hours, seventeen minutes and thirteen seconds to be exact, since they had dragged her from that God-awful scene in the tent back to the space in the cave. Four days, three hours, seventeen minutes and thirteen seconds since her world had been taken from her and she had been plunged into cool darkness, with only the light of a small candle illuminating part of the space. The other side of the room was cloaked in complete blackness.

Natalie sat against the wall, her knees to her chest. She was still wearing the same white dirty t-shirt, jean shorts, and hiking boots that she had been wearing when Mark and Cory had burst into her tent. Her t-shirt, gray and soiled now, still held the stains from their blood. She couldn't bear to ask for new clothes. The blood was all she had left of them.

Since coming to the cave, the only times Natalie saw anyone were when Schumpert or Crowley came in twice a day to give her a meager meal of mealy bread and dirty water. She hadn't touched any of the food, determined to starve herself. If they wanted to see if she was immune to this disease she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of killing her. She could commit the act herself, her last act of defiance. If she came back as a biter so be it, and if not she would die on her own terms.

A plate and glass of the wretched food and brown water sat in front of her now and she stared at it. She remembered talking to Mark about one of his deployments, where he had been in the desert.

"_Humans can only survive without water for 3 to 5 days, dependin' on conditions._" He was always trying to feed her some bit of survivalist knowledge he had learned in the Marines. He had always wanted her and Cory to be safe.

"I don't have much longer I have to survive. I'll be with you both soon," she paused. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep you both safe," Natalie whispered to herself, her voice coming out dry and husky from lack of use and water. "I'm sorry I failed you." She could feel the lump rising in her throat but no tears came. She figured she had cried out all the tears she could in the first two days after their death.

Laying her head back on the rock wall, she closed her eyes, imagining happier times, like the day she first met Mark in high school. She had moved to Wilmington, NC from Saffron, England the summer before she turned sixteen. Her father, a biology professor at Cambridge, had managed to secure a job at the local university. Mark was friendly, outgoing, loved to spend time outdoors off-roading at the beach, or off hunting with his friends. School was never a priority for him, as evidenced by the fact he was two years older but was still in the same grade as she. Natalie was shy, kept to herself, loved to read and write, and actually liked school.

He had offered her a ride home from school one day on his motorcycle, and despite her initial hesitation, she was won over by his charm and award-winning smile. When they started dating, nobody thought they would make it a month. When he had asked her to marry him, she said yes without a moment's hesitation and the day after graduation they snuck off to the local courthouse with two of their closest friends to serve as witnesses. Her father had had a conniption fit when he learned that not only was she not going to college, she had married the young man about to enter the Marines; however, the tension quickly dissipated when he saw how happy Mark made Natalie. Life was perfect, and it became even more perfect the day Cory was born. When she held him for the first time, she was amazed that she could love someone so much that she just met. Natalie felt herself getting warm all over at the happy memories.

She was jarred from her thoughts by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the cave corridor. Phillip, trailed by Martinez, entered the room and she steeled her shoulders, clearing emotion from her face. Phillip had a bandage over his left eye and she swore his features had become more twisted. He resembled a coiled cobra, ready to strike its prey.

"So, Natalie, what is this I hear about you refusing your meals? Aren't you enjoying your accommodations?" He kneeled down in front of her.

Natalie spoke but continued staring at the wall, not looking at him. "You killed my family four days ago. I hardly think I have to do anything you tell me." She felt him roughly grab her face so she was forced to look directly into his dark, soulless eye.

"My dear, you're trying my patience. We need you to keep up your strength for tests we are planning, and if you don't I can say it will not be a pretty day for you." His eyes scanned up and down her body and she felt a sense of violation she had never felt before. "My men are very weary and tired and you could easily be their reward for a hard day's work."

Natalie narrowed her eyes and stared at the men she had once considered not only a competent leader, but a friend. A man she had once trusted.

"Fuck you," she spat the words at him and attempted to scoot further away from him against the wall. It was hard to move since she was so malnourished and her muscles screamed in protest as she struggled to get away. Her focus was on the movement of her body when she felt and then heard the crack of a fist against her jaw, and she went sprawling to the floor.

She was face down on the dirt floor of the cave and as she struggled to lift herself up she felt a strong weight come down on her back and someone grabbed her hands, pinning them above her head. With her face in the dirt she couldn't breathe, so she turned her head to the side, only to see Phillip in her peripheral leaning over the side of her face. He was sitting on her back and bending over her ear, and no doubt Martinez was the one who grabbed her hands. Her slight frame was no match for his much bigger one and she couldn't throw him off of her.

She felt Phillip's hot breath on the side of her face and thought he was going to rape her right there. Her heart started beating faster and she could feel her breathing speed up.

"Eat your food or I swear I will cut you up piece by piece. I need you alive, I never said I would need you whole." As if to prove his point, she felt the blade of a knife start at her neck and slide up to the side of her head.

"You apparently didn't think I would need both of my eyes."

Natalie felt a sharp, searing stab of pain in the side of her head that almost made her pass out, and saw Phillip toss something across the room into the darkness. Amidst her shrieks of pain and flailing Phillip flipped her over and punched her square in the face, making her see stars. When Natalie focused she could feel the blood starting to seep down out of her nose and could only now stare in shock at the ceiling as blood streamed down her neck from where her right ear used to be. Phillip, still sitting on her, pulled her face, almost gently, to look up at him. He leaned down and was so close she thought she was going to be sick at his sour breath.

"Consider that payback for my eye my dear. Will you behave now?" He whispered, and slowly she nodded her head, too numb to say anything. With that he got to his feet. "Martinez, help me." Martinez took her by one arm, Phillip on the other, and they gently lifted her to her feet, dragging her over to a sitting position by the food.

"Now, my dear, have a seat. Let's get some food in you." He held up the piece of bread and handed it to her. She absently grabbed it and started tearing off small pieces, putting them into her mouth. When she finished the bread and water, Phillip smiled at her and moved a piece of hair out of her face. She flinched at his touch.

"There, that's a good girl. Martinez is going to stand guard, and in a few hours he'll bring you more food. Have to keep you healthy." When she finished the provision, Phillip leaned down and, ever so gently, kissed her forehead. She thought she was going to be sick.

Phillip turned and paused before he exited the cave. "Oh, and we'll get Milton to come back to clean and stitch that up for you." He pointed to her head. "He's gotten very good at healing wounds. I personally can attest to that." He smiled down at her and left the room.

Martinez stood to go relieve the current guard. Before he left the room he turned and she caught his gaze. She thought his eyes held a tinge of sadness or regret, but she couldn't be sure. "Sorry about your boy," he said softly, and turned to leave the room.

Natalie sat, gently cradling the side of her head. She stayed in that position for the next few hours, not moving or speaking when Milton came in to tend to her, and not when Martinez came in with food. Milton had at least attempted conversation, asking if she was doing alright, but she didn't respond and merely nodded or shook her head when he asked her if she was in any pain. He fussed over her head for a while and said he would be back the next day to change the bandages. He gave her a look of what she swore was sympathy as he left. It could have just as easily been apathy as far as she was concerned.

After Natalie finished the second plate of food and Martinez left with the eating utensils, she sat, cross-legged in the center of the room. While Martinez and Milton had been tending to her, she hadn't been in shock, as they seemed to think. She was waiting to make her move. Luckily for her, she had noticed something, a mistake, that could possibly save her life. Although the day's events should have left her exhausted, she was far from that. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, she put her plan into motion.

Very slowly and softly, so as not to raise any suspicion from the guard, she crawled away from the candle, toward the side of the room cloaked in darkness where Phillip threw her ear. She felt her stitches pull and winced at the pain in her head. The food and water however, although disgusting, had given her renewed energy and she started to crawl faster, hoping that what she had seen earlier was accurate and not a figment of her imagination. A shuffling noise came from down the hall and she paused, hoping in her haste she hadn't attracted attention.

When all was quiet again, Natalie began feeling along the ground in the darkness. There was nothing but dirt. The space she was looking wasn't very big but it seemed to be a mile wide when she couldn't see the edges. Desperation started to settle in and she started feeling around faster. She felt something underneath her fingers and moved back into the light to see what it was. It was what was left of her ear. Dropping it and gagging, she bent over, feeling the bile in her throat. Maybe it had just been her imagination.

"No," she thought with determination. She went back to the dark space and crawled further to the back, feeling the ground slowly, methodically. The doubt started creeping in again when her fingers suddenly grazed the edge of something metal and sharp-something that didn't belong on the cave floor. She let out a quiet sob of relief and went back to sit by the candle where she could see the object Phillip threw, along with her ear, into the darkness. A knife. The same knife Mark had given her to defend herself, and the same one she used to stab Phillip's eye out. The same one with which he had mutilated her a few hours earlier. She didn't know if he had thrown it and left it there on purpose, if this was another game of his, but she was going to take that risk. She had a weapon now.

Natalie sat back down and undid the laces on her boot. She slipped the knife inside her dirty sock and laced it back up. There was no bulge, no evidence anything was hidden in there. She took a deep breath, and stared into space, mentally preparing herself.

During her brief trip inside herself when Milton had been fixing her up and Martinez had been feeding her, she had started thinking and planning. Her death wish from earlier, before Phillip had shown up, had been quashed the second he had punched her and sent her sprawling to the cave floor. All she could think about was how much she wanted to live right at that second. How much of a disservice it would be to Mark, the man who died protecting her, and to Cory, if she gave up that easily. And how much she wanted to see Phillip burn for what he had done to her and to the two people she loved most in the world. She could feel her hatred for the man ignite like a flame in her gut, and each minute that passed without her family only served to fan the flame. Natalie's mission when the outbreak started was to ensure her family's survival. Her mission now was to ensure their revenge. She only needed to escape first.

_Five days later…_

Tim made his way down the corridor of the cave. His stride said it all: he was exhausted. He hadn't slept for almost twenty-four hours because he was running around doing shit for Phillip, and now he was being made to babysit the woman again. He had only recently been brought in to help as a bit of muscle and he was starting to regret it. He walked up to Crowley and took his place beside him. "Hey man, boss says you can go get some food and sleep. I got the night shift."

Crowley stood up from his crouching position, stretching his aching muscles. "Bitch ain't made a peep since I brought her dinner. Don't see how she can eat that shit."

Tim nodded in agreement. "Guess you'll eat anything when you're hungry." He glanced down the hallway, "They start doing any tests yet?"

Crowley shouldered his rifle. "Nah, not yet. Boss wants her good and healthy when they do. In the meantime…," he paused, giving Tim a sly grin. "Boss said we could have a little fun, wind down with her if we wanted to. Schumpert and me already already sampled the merchandise. She's a sweet little thing, doesn't put up much of a fight. Long as she's healthy, boss don't care."

Tim recoiled in slight revulsion. "You mean you been…what, everyone been doing it?"

Crowley shook his head. "Not Martinez. He really liked her boy. Guess it's a whole moral thing. Ya ask me he's just being a pussy."

Tim stared at Crowley, the disgust written across his face. "Think I'll just do the shift and call it a day." Crowley shrugged his shoulders.

"Your loss man. We've been doin' checks on the girl every two hours. She don't move much, just sits and stares, eats, and sleeps. Bring her outside every few hours to piss. It's getting ripe enough in there as it is." Crowley turned and headed out of the cave towards the camp.

Tim watched him leave and took his post. He hadn't been a part of the attack on the girl or her family, but Phillip and the others told him they were dangerous. Just because she was dangerous, however, it didn't mean he had to go take advantage of her. He looked at his watch and waited until he had to go take her out.

Natalie lay on her side, the side of her head that wasn't bandaged on the ground. She had heard the brief exchange between Crowley and Tim and closed her eyes. When she heard Crowley talking about what he and Schumpert had done to her the fury in her had reared its head like a lion and she was tempted to storm down the corridor and ambush Crowley right then. Instead, she took a deep breath and calmed her pulse. They would be coming to get her soon.

She opened her eyes an hour later when she heard Tim coming down the hall. "Girl, time for a piss break."

She turned her head, assessing the small Asian man. He was smaller then the other men, and had more of a nervous demeanor about him. He hadn't been among those that had killed her family and he had treated her more gently in the last week than the others had. She almost felt sorry for the guy.

Silently, she stood up, keeping her head bowed. "Lead the way," he commanded. He gestured to her and she led the way out of the cave, Tim following closely behind her, his gun at the ready.

"You know where to go?" he asked her as they exited the cave into the humid night air. She nodded. As they walked down the hill toward the area further away from the camp where people did their business, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Why do they have you guarding me? Does the new guy always have to do the bitch work?" He stared at her back as they walked down the hill.

"No. Just have me on rotation. Unfortunately it's my shift."

"Where'd they find you? You weren't here when shit went down." Tim looked uncomfortable.

"Stumbled on your camp a week ago. Other group I was with got overrun. Phillip took me in, said I could be of help in the 'muscle' department."

Natalie chuckled, though there was no mirth in her tone. "So, you really don't know what went down then."

They walked in silence a few more seconds. "They tell you I'm dangerous?" Natalie asked. Tim kept his gun up.

"Yeah, said you killed a few guys. Stabbed out the Boss's eye." She laughed bitterly.

"Well, that's partly true. I did stab out Phillip's eye. My husband and I killed the guys. They tell you why we did?" He shook his head. He wasn't in on the inner circle like Schumpert, Crowley, and Martinez. "No, they didn't."

She turned to face him fully and stopped walking. "They assaulted us and held us captive. They think I can cure the infection or some shit. We just tried to escape and they killed my family, in front of me."

Tim looked at her uncertainly. "Listen, I don't know what to believe. I just know the boss told me you guys attacked and killed a few of our own. I knew your husband, he seemed like a good guy. But there are five dead men and you're still alive."

They reached the spot where she could relieve herself with some privacy. "Go on, get this over with," he ordered. As she turned to walk around the tree that would shield her from his eyes, she heard him speak quietly, "I am sorry about your family ma'am. That's no way for anyone to go. Not nowadays."

Natalie turned and walked around the tree. Squatting, she unlaced her boot, slipping the knife out. She got back up and turned back around the tree, tucking the knife in the back of her shorts. As she walked up to Tim, she could see he had lowered his gun a little, eyeing her warily.

"Ok captain, we can go back now. But before we go, can I ask you two questions?" He looked her up and down, and nodded.

Natalie took a breath."First, what's your name?"

Her question appeared to catch him off guard, as if that was the last thing he expected her to ask. "It's Ryan Tim, ma'am. People call me Tim."

She looked thoughtful. "Name's Natalie. Natalie Michaelson. Nice to meet you." Tim looked thoroughly baffled now.

After a pause, Natalie continued, speaking softly. "I heard what you said to Crowley earlier. You really weren't going to take advantage of me in this little situation?"

Tim cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "No, I wouldn't. I might be on guard duty but I'm not a rapist." Natalie nodded, as if this had satisfied something for her.

"Well then," she said, "that means I won't kill you slowly."

At these words Tim started, "What the—"

Before he had a chance to react, Natalie had pulled the knife from the waistband of her shorts and was swinging it toward him. He raised his gun but before he could fire a shot she plunged the knife into the side of his neck. He dropped the gun and fell to his knees, his hands clutching at her shoulders. Natalie withdrew the knife, blood spurting in all directions, and she brought it down again. Tim fell back and stared up at her, his breathing coming out in short gurgles and gasps. Natalie looked down on him and at the blood spurting out of his neck wound. The attack had been quick and quiet. She could get away now and he would be dead by morning. Instead, she knelt down beside him, grabbing his hand in her own.

"I'm sorry this had to happen," her whisper came out choked and sad. She gazed into his eyes, "Thank you for being decent, Tim. For that, I'll let you stay dead. You won't be one of…_them_."She stood up, taking the rifle with her and stared down at him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The last thing Tim saw was Natalie crushing the butt of the gun on his face. The only sound that permeated the night air was the repeated cracking of his skull and the squish of his brain matter.

Natalie stood up straight, wiping the blood away that had splattered on her face. She stared down at the man she had just murdered. She was feeling a range of emotions right now but she couldn't stop to process them. She had to get moving. It was five hours until the shift change, and five hours until they would discover Tim's body and her disappearance. She had to get a head start. Turning quickly, she headed into the woods, disappearing into the inky darkness.


	4. Survival Instinct

**AN: So, I am playing around with the timeline a bit here. In the comic, they are in the quarry into winter, so this is after the quarry and the CDC in the show. No farm yet. Anyway, please let me know what you think :)**

******Disclaimer: I do not own anything Walking Dead. Wish I did, but I don't. ****I wish my brain was as** **ingenious as Robert Kirkman****. I******** do own Natalie though. Thanks for reading!**

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon in the east, the direction of the camp behind her. She had been running for hours. Natalie made sure to keep the sun on her left shoulder, because merely running west would have sent her straight through Waynesboro and last she heard it was overrun with biters. Natalie didn't fancy being anyone's dinner that day so she opted to continue in her current direction.

After another hour of slow jogging she became acutely aware she could feel the blood pulsating around the wound in her head, and her muscles ached in protest at being asked to keep moving. Feeling the stitches in her sides she stopped completely and bent over, hands on her knees, her breath coming in long drawn out gasps. The adrenaline that set in when she killed Tim and made her escape was starting to wear off.

Natalie's thoughts strayed briefly to the man she killed. He hadn't trusted her, but he at least sympathized with her in her current situation. When the light in his eyes had gone out when she beat his head in with the gun, she felt a mixture of emotions, ranging from self-loathing to a maniacal sense of glee. That was the part that scared her the most—the sheer joy she felt at ending a man's life. Natalie's thoughts jumbled together and she felt dizzy. She had to mentally remind herself of where she was and having a mental breakdown was not an option at the moment.

Straightening, she craned her neck to look back into the woods, scanning the area quickly to see if any of Phillip's henchmen followed her. Seeing nothing she turned forward…nearly running face first into a biter that managed to sneak up on her. Its long, bony fingers reached out for her shoulders. With a shriek she brought her hands up to keep it from getting any closer, shoving it back with all the strength she could muster. The biter was the size of a large child or small woman so she was able to easily push it to the ground. As the biter struggled back its feet, hissing in rage, Natalie took a few quick steps backwards. She fumbled to remove the gun that was strapped across her back.

"_No guns_," Mark's voice went through her head. "_Noise draws 'em like moths to a flame_." Not wanting to chance attracting any more biters in the area, she ditched the gun idea and grabbed the knife out of the waistband of her shorts, holding it out in front of her.

"Come on you ugly motherfucker," she taunted. She had never been in a knife fight before but figured now was the time to start.

"_Easy babe_," Mark's voice cautioned. "_Wait for the opportune moment_."

As the biter limped towards her she lunged forward, wanting to take it by surprise. This tactic seemed to backfire because she clumsily landed into the biter and it stumbled backward, tripping over a tree root and taking her down with it.

With a sickening crack Natalie could hear the spine of the biter underneath her break, but it cushioned her fall so she was now sitting on top of it. It still reached up for her, attempting to grab her arms or hair to pull her down towards its lustful jaws.

One of its hands got hold of the bandage covering her wound and she felt the medical tape rip from her head, taking some of her hair with it. Despite the pain Natalie managed to roll herself off the biter, out of its grasp and scrambled to her feet. The biter, unable to use its legs anymore due to its broken back, was trying unsuccessfully to roll and pull itself toward her. With one swift motion Natalie drew the knife over her head and plunged it down to rest in the biter's forehead, its motions immediately ceasing. Natalie bent down and picked up the knife, wiping off the thick, black blood on the front of her jean shorts. They were so filthy that that at this point biter blood would blend right in.

Natalie wiped the sweat from her brow and breathed a long, heavy sigh. She had seen biters plenty of times, but Mark had always been with her to take care of them. This was her first solo biter kill. Upon closer examination, the biter wore what was probably once a white blouse and the remnants of what looked like business pants, a young woman possibly. There was a gaping wound in the neck and part of the shoulder had been chewed away, exposing the tendons and muscles underneath. The face was so decayed that if it hadn't been for the clothes Natalie wouldn't have known if the biter had been a man or a woman. She turned around and walked away slowly, feeling sick to her stomach. No matter how many times she had seen Mark kill these things, it always bothered her when he did. Even though she knew the people were dead already, she still felt like she was taking a person's life.

"_But you did that already. You murdered that man_." Natalie shook her head, tamping down her emotions. It wouldn't do to mull over it.

"_Well, that was a little too close_," Mark's voice broke through the silence in the clearing. "_You were lucky. Gotta watch your dumb ass next time_."

She chuckled out loud. "Agreed. If I make cock-ups a daily habit I'd say my chances of surviving the apocalypse are seriously fucked."

Mark's chuckle rang in her ears. "_Know I didn't get to teach ya everything, but you know enough about weapons and survival to make it. You'll figure the rest out. You're a fighter. Remember after we got married and your dad threatened to tie me to the ocean pier with a piece of bloody fish hangin' off me?_"

Natalie smiled at the memory. "I told him to get his head out of his ass because it wasn't a hat."

"_If you can take on your dad like that you can take on anythin' honey_." Natalie sighed, and the grief and sadness threatened to overwhelm her.

"Not without you," she whispered to the empty clearing. She was very aware she was standing by herself talking to her dead husband, and she probably looked like a complete nutter. But his voice gave her comfort, and she wasn't going to fight it.

The crack of a stick brought her back to reality and she quickly spun in the direction of the sound. Seeing nothing, she turned and started walking in the direction she had been running. Blood was dribbling down her head from the now exposed wound, some of the stitching having ripped apart. She was disturbed to realize that she hadn't heard the biter approaching because when she turned her head to scan the area behind her, the wounded side had been facing the biter. Steeling herself, she held her fingers to the right side of her head and snapped. Nothing. She tried again, and still could hear nothing. Phillip must have done more damage than either Milton or she had thought. She was definitely deaf in her right ear.

Swallowing her emotions, Natalie thought of what she must do next. First thing she had to do?

"_Find water and shelter_," Mark's voice commanded. She scanned the area in front of her. Nothing.

"No matter now," she exclaimed aloud, "But I have to find something quickly and get out of here. Could have drawn more biters from the attack." Her head was pounding and her already weak muscles were screaming for a rest.

"_I'm right here with you honey,_" Mark's voice sounded and then went silent. She knew she had to keep going. Mark and Cory were depending on her. With both of them in her head and her heart she found the will and strength to move forward. Without a glance behind her she continued further into the heart of the forest.

**88888888888888888888888888888**

_Present Day, Five months after the outbreak_

_Squish_!

The sound of the knife as it ripped into the biter's internal organs was enough to make Natalie turn her head and retch. The smell of a biter's innards was something she was never going to get used to, a cross between the sulfuric smell of rotting eggs, sweat, and rotting meat. The odor penetrated all of her senses and would linger in her nostrils and throat for hours on end, even when she was miles away from where she had made a kill. She had found a tube of Vaporub in a small convenience store that hadn't been entirely looted, and she would put that under her nose to dull her senses to the putrid stink. It was never enough.

With a grimace she reached down into the open chest cavity of the walker and pulled out a handful of its large intestine. She walked back to the entrance of the cave that had been her home the last two months. Stretching herself to her full 5'3" height, she draped the organs, much like one would drape Christmas garland, around the trees that served to camouflage the opening from the eyes of biter's and live people alike. The smell kept the biters from getting curious about the opening to the cave. She needed to at least keep them away one more night.

Natalie stumbled upon the cave a good month after she fled Phillip's camp. She found the highway shortly after her encounter with her first biter and managed to procure food, clothes, and a few supplies from abandoned cars. To her relief there was a first aid kit and she had been able to take care of her head wound. Natalie's attempts at re-stitching the laceration had produced a colorful stream of language and she swore if she found a doctor she would handcuff herself to him and throw away the key.

Since there was a stream near the highway Natalie had tried to sleep in the cars, but the decaying bodies of the cars' former owners eventually drove her to find a new place to set up camp. For the next month she perfected her climbing skills by sleeping in trees, strapping herself to the thick branches with a bungee cord so she wouldn't become a midnight snack for a wandering biter. She kept close to the highway, going back every now and then to forage for food. Natalie never thought she would pride herself on being a scavenger, but she now considered herself an expert.

When she couldn't take another bite of dried fruit or canned Spaghettios, Natalie decided it was time to get some real meat. When Mark would come home from hunting he would bring giant bucks that would deliver copious amounts of meat, enough so they could freeze it for an entire winter and eat it into the next year. Her mouth watering, Natalie had attempted to hunt down a deer in the surrounding wood. Unfortunately, any time she would get near one it scampered off into the woods. As her quest for real protein became more desperate, she resigned herself to the idea she might not be a big game hunter after all.

"_Got to start small,_" Mark's voice chided. She knew if he were here he would be on the floor laughing at her antics. "_Besides, you can't shoot the damn things. Whatcha gonna do, nag at it until it begs you to kill it?_"

Desperate for meat, she had spent days creeping into the woods, looking for small game. She was surprised at the number of animals left with how many biters there were at this point wandering the woods. On approximately her 37th attempt, she managed to bag a small squirrel after she threw her knife at it in frustration. That meal would be one she remembered for a long time. After weeks of hunting small animals she felt she had at least become proficient at either throwing her knife and killing something, or lunging for a squirrel to snap its neck. She was successful probably 60% of the time.

"_Don't know how to track worth a damn, and your techniques are sloppy,_" Mark said.

"But _I _can move more quietly than you ever could. _You_ move as gracefully as a giraffe on roller skates," she retorted.

Mark's voice kept her a lot of company these days. Natalie knew talking to the ghosts of her dead family was not healthy, but it was the only thing she could do to keep her sanity from crumbling. At night she would whisper to Mark and Cory, informing them of the day's events and what the state of the world was. She would tell Mark what she planned to do to Phillip when she ran across him again.

In the cave she now resided Natalie managed to build a life for herself. She couldn't sleep worth a damn, the nightmares were never-ending—but she could say she had survived another day in this strange, new world. And she managed to survive another day to get Phillip.

That was the thought that had kept her going for the better part of three months, that when she saw Phillip his suffering would be nothing compared to what she had been made to go through, and Mark and Cory would finally be at peace. Natalie often spent nights fantasizing at what she could do to him and had found herself deliciously excited at the different methods of torture she could devise in her head. On one hand she knew her joy in inflicting pain on another human being was not normal and Mark would not approve—on the other, when she faced Phillip again she knew her lust for blood would far outweigh any moral compass she possessed before the apocalypse. Natalie spent three months using the skills she learned from Mark about survival, and taught herself more in the process. She had grown stronger and faster, and she could fight. After she killed Phillip she didn't much care if she lived, but her mission now was to make him pay. She just had to find him first, and on her terms.

It was with this in mind Natalie knew her time here was ending. She needed to move on. Staying in one place would be dangerous, especially if Phillip and his cronies were out looking for her. She didn't want them getting the jump on her. She was staying one more night in the cave, and tomorrow she would find a new temporary home.

The next morning Natalie left the cave at dawn her gun held high and her knife strapped to her hip. She adjusted the headband that now served to cover her deformed ear. It had healed nicely. Before she killed him she reminded herself to commend Milton on the bang-up job he had done stitching her up. Where the pinna had once been, nothing but a few loose flaps of skin and the hole leading to the ear canal remained. It looked hideous and she had no personal problem walking around with it exposed, but the area around the injury was still sensitive. She also didn't want to give any other people, should she run into them, the idea she was weak in any way. Adjusting the pack on her back, Natalie started toward the highway and diverted west, heading towards Waynesboro. If the knowledge that Waynesboro was overrun was widespread, she thought she could count on not running into other live people the closer she got to town.

She had only come across other people twice since she left Phillip's camp, and both times had served as a reminder why she now no longer could or would trust other living beings.

The first time was when a man and his wife that found her while she was out hunting and got the jump on her. When she woke up hours later the sky had almost grown completely dark. She could taste the blood from where the man hit her across the face and the pain in her head from where she was pistol-whipped by the woman. When she felt around to see what they took, she found that not only had they taken her gun and knife, they had stolen her wedding ring.

The fact they had stolen one of the last items precious to her had done nothing to ease her treatment of them after she found their camp. It was close to dark when they had attacked her, so Natalie knew they themselves or their camp could not be far off. She didn't know how to track them, but following the streambed she was sure she would stumble upon them. They had to be near a water source to survive. With her limited survival knowledge and a bit of luck, Natalie found their camp a short time later upstream. The couple had badly attempted to hide the fire they built to cook food, and the smell of roasting meat wafted in her direction. She could see a tent and multiple bags of supplies. Propped up against one of the bags, she could see her rifle.

Thinking quickly, Natalie slunk away from the camp. She ran a few hundred yards down the stream, straining with her good ear to hear the noise that would normally make her turn tail and run. After a few minutes, she could see it-nine or ten stray biters, wandering aimlessly through a forest clearing looking for a snack. There were so many biters in the forest these days it was hard not to find small groups like this. Quickly, Natalie bent and picked up a rock, throwing it in the direction of a male biter not more than 20 yards from where she stood. Seeing her, its eyes widened with hunger and it began to hurry in her direction, far faster than the aimless gait they seemed to acquire when there wasn't food nearby. As the biter came toward her, Natalie turned and ran toward the camp, making sure to never leave the biter's sight. When she saw the camp in the distance again, she smiled. This was going to work.

Natalie continued running until she was only fifty yards from the camp, then took a sharp right, disappearing into the darkness. After running a short distance she turned, hoping that her plan would work. With triumph, she watched as the group of biters that had been following her took notice of the fire and started wandering toward it, looking for another food source. Only one biter had managed to sense where she had gone and followed closely behind her. With haste, Natalie bent and picked up a thick branch. With as much force as she could muster she rammed the stick forward into the eye of the biter. It sunk to the ground, dead. It was then Natalie started to hear the screams and gunfire coming from the couple's camp.

Walking quietly, Natalie stalked up to the camp and hid behind a bush, watching the action unfold in front of her. The man and woman were trying desperately to shoot down the biters that had invaded their camp, but they were outnumbered ten to two and were disposed of quickly. Natalie didn't move from her spot, waiting for the biters to have their fill. Hours later, when they had gotten bored of the meal and started wandering aimlessly again, Natalie emerged from her hiding place.

She walked up to the bodies of the man and woman. Their faces had been ripped off and parts of their brain were hanging out, exposed to the muggy night air. They wouldn't be turning. Scanning their bodies, Natalie saw a gleam from the woman's finger, which had miraculously not been eaten off. Natalie couldn't quite believe the audacity of the woman, but she chose not to think about it. She bent down, removing her wedding ring from the dead woman, and slipped it on her own finger. Turning back to the camp she began scouring for supplies, finding more food, guns, and ammo in addition to her own. She picked up an empty bag and filled it with her new prizes.

As Natalie started to walk out of the camp, she glanced at the bodies and noticed a gleam from around the woman's neck. She reached down and removed what she now saw was a necklace, a locket. Turning it over in her hands, Natalie opened the locket. Inside was a picture of a little girl that couldn't be more than ten. The girl scarily resembled the dead woman before her. Natalie studied the picture, than looked back at the bodies of the girl's dead parents. With a shrug, she turned and threw the locket in the now dying fire, watching as the edges bent and the metal started to become discolored.

"Sorry you had shitty parents, kid." Not sparing a glance back, Natalie turned and headed back towards her own cave.

The second time Natalie encountered people she hadn't even talked to them. She had been in her cave, cleaning a squirrel she had just managed to kill when she heard a loud scream coming from outside the cave, too close for her comfort.

Natalie had grabbed her rifle and run as fast as she could towards the screams. Running over the ridge that led up out of the clearing, she saw her. A woman that looked to be in her late teens or early 20s, covered in blood, was running away from what looked to be a hoard of 7 or 8 biters. It looked like she had been running for a while because her movements were clumsy, stumbling. She was attempting to beat off the walkers with the butt of her gun, so she must have run out of ammunition a long time before. Natalie watched as the girl ran unknowingly in the direction of her cave, and she cursed herself. If the girl came much nearer Natalie was going to have a herd of walkers outside her front door, and that was a bigger problem than she wanted to face today.

Taking a deep breath, Natalie looked through the scope of the rifle at the stumbling girl. The look of pain and fear on the girl's face sent a ripple of nausea through Natalie's stomach, but she hardened her resolve. Without hesitation she aimed and fired, hitting the girl square in the kneecap. With a strangled cry, the girl fell to the ground, the biters quickly descending upon her. Natalie shouldered her rifle and hurried back to the cave, not slowing once as the choked screams of the dying girl rang through her arms.

When Natalie had entered the cave, she put down the gun and knife and flopped herself on her bed. She stared at the darkness of the cave ceiling, willing her heart to stop thrumming in her ears.

"_Ya just...left that girl._" Mark's voice sounded soft in her ears. Distant.

"Had to babe. It was her or me. I chose me." Natalie turned on her side. "I don't know her. Besides, I don't care."

"_You can keep telling yourself that._" His voice murmured. "_Why are your hands shaking then?_"

Natalie looked down and noticed her hands were, indeed, shaking. "It's survival Mark. I'm doing what I have to do now. There's only one objective now. Phillip." Her voice had turned cold.

Mark's voice maintained its warm, even tone. "_Now you're soundin' like him. All crazy and shit. I know you want to kill him honey. I want you to kill him. But you can't lose yourself in the process._"

Natalie sighed, her emotions in turmoil. "I know babe. I just don't know what I'm doing anymore. The world's changed. To survive...I have to change with it."

She paused, and she felt her ears brimming with tears. "One thing hasn't changed though. I still love you."

Mark's voice floated to her through the haze of her tears. "_I know babe. And I love you too. Go to sleep. Me and Cory, we're here with you._"

Comforted, and feeling the exhaustion settling into her muscles, Natalie had drifted off to sleep, images of happier days filling her dreams.

**88888888888888888888888888888**

It had been three days since she left the cave. For the first two days Natalie had stuck to sleeping in the woods, but as she had gotten closer to the highway she decided to stay out in the open. Natalie had been walking for a few hours following the tree line that ran parallel to the highway. If she came upon a threat she wanted to be able to make a quick getaway into the woods. She knew them better than anyone at this point.

Natalie sat down on the ground, taking out a bottle of water and taking a quick sip of the tepid liquid. Although it was October the temperature had climbed to a balmy 85 degrees, and she could feel the sweat trickling down her back. The flannel shirt she wore soaked up the liquid and thankfully kept her cool, but her jeans felt stifling. Natalie looked in both directions around her and sighed. There was no sign of anything.

"What am I doing here Mark? I should be looking for Phillip. I'm ready, I know I am. Walking toward Waynesboro is just a suicide mission."

Mark clucked his tongue, "_Whatcha gonna do when you go after Phillip babe? Bust in hollerin' and shoutin', kill him, then go back to sleepin' in trees? You need a home base, somewhere you can go back to._"

Natalie sighed. "Won't need a home base if they kill me after I get to him."

Mark's voice came out sharp, "_You're not gonna die. Just stop being a stubborn ass and find a place to stay._"

"Fine," Natalie said, "But if I die of dehydration I'm coming after you in the afterlife."

As she continued walking in the direction of Waynesboro, she noticed a series of subdivisions off to her right. As she made her way closer, her eyes started to widen. She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. The neighborhood in front of her, the _gated_ neighborhood, was surrounded by a 12-foot brick wall. "Tall enough to keep biters out," she told herself.

Natalie noticed the sign by the front gate and moved closer, wiping the dirt off the sign to read the name of the community. _Wilshire Estates_.

With a rush of excitement she hurried to the wall. Realizing she couldn't climb directly over the wall, she noticed the tree next to her had branches hanging directly over the ground on the other side of the wall. Natalie removed her pack and scuttled up the tree like a monkey, only to be greeted by a sorry sight.

The houses in the subdivision were huge, the kinds of houses well-to-do suburbanites built to show off their own wealth and ultimately make them feel better about themselves. They were probably filled with canned food, blankets, clothes, and beds, anything one could hope to find during the end of the world. And they were guarded by at least 100 biters slowly patrolling the streets, the walls around the community keeping them in.

Natalie cursed, sliding back to hide against the tree. The last thing she needed was for a herd of biters to start hissing at her and drawing the attention of any other beings in the area. She quickly climbed down the tree and cursed again, displeased at herself for getting excited and a bit too careless. She had been ready to jump right over that fence without seeing what was on the other side.

With a disgruntled sign she turned and headed back toward the highway.

"Maybe there will be more like it," she told herself, knowing it was a full-on impossibility. She was almost at the highway when she heard what sounded like vehicles. They were the first vehicles she heard in three months.

Panicked, Natalie ran back toward the subdivision, looking desperately for a place to hide. She noticed the trees had thinned out considerably and cursed herself for not noticing her cover had been stripped down to a few trees every ten feet. She could hear the sounds of the vehicles getting closer and, growing desperate, she turned back towards the tree she had climbed up earlier.

Without thinking, she put her pack on her back, slung her gun over her shoulder, and grabbed the lowest branch of the tree, making her way as high into the tree as possible and settling on a sturdy branch. As it was fall, there weren't many leaves left on the trees and she was fearful with the lack of cover she would be made quickly. Grabbing her rifle, she brought it to her front. She didn't have much ammo left so if she had to take a shot, she was going to make it count. In the meantime, she wanted to see the vehicles.

Looking through the scope of the rifle, she eyed the highway, a good 200 yards away from her current location. As the vehicles came closer she could make out a blue truck leading the pack, followed by a large ancient-looking RV, a Jeep, and another truck. They were heading down the highway towards Waynesboro and Natalie wondered how they had managed to get around other cars on the jam-packed highway. She was still pondering this when she heard a loud pop and smoke started to curl from the front of the RV.

As she watched all of the vehicles came to a stop and their occupants began to spill out, staring wearily at the RV. Looking through the scope, Natalie made note of the different members of the group. A large burly man had exited the jeep and was gesturing wildly. An old man with a fisherman's hat got out of the driver's side of the RV. Out of the RV their spilled what looked to be a cute young Asian man, a pretty blonde woman, an older woman with a short-cropped haircut, and a young girl that didn't look older than twelve. The people from the RV seemed relieved to be out and walking. A man with a floppy brown hair got out of the blue truck and was leaning against the side of the truck, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He was watching the actions of the others and seemed uninterested in the heated conversation that now appeared to be taking place between the burly man and the old man. She couldn't hear what was being said but it looked like it could come to blows until a slender man with brown curly hair put himself between the two and looked to be mediating the argument. A tall, willowy, rather pretty woman trailed after him, her eyes intent on the conversation going on between the three men. What Natalie saw next made her catch her breath.

From behind the woman appeared a small boy. He couldn't be more than 12. Natalie felt her breath hitch and a weight on her chest. He reminded her so much of her little boy she almost lost her balance and fell out of the tree.

"Nice going genius," she rebuked herself, re-settling her position.

Looking through the scope again, she saw it looked like the argument had been resolved and the group was now looking at the subdivision. Natalie realized, with a start, that they were gathering their belongings from the vehicles and heading towards the _entrance_. She made to call out to them, but quickly stifled herself. She didn't know these people. They could be rapists, murderers. "_Like your old group_," she reminded herself.

Natalie glanced inside the subdivision and noticed the biters that had been wandering the streets were no longer in sight.

"_What the hell?_" she thought.

She used the scope and looked in her full range of vision. There was no doubt the biters had disappeared.

"Damn, damn, damn," she cursed. She knew she should warn the group they were heading into a death trap. Even now she could see them at the entrance to the subdivision, working on loosening the gate so they could get inside to what they presumed were the safety of beds, food, shelter…the safety of normalcy. Aside from the argument she had witnessed, they didn't seem like a bad group of people and Natalie found herself caught in a battle of wills-the need to help, to get them away from danger…and the need to survive.

The group finally managed to break open the gate and Natalie watched them scope out the nearest house, probably clearing it of biters before they took up residence, with no knowledge of the other biters in the area. They could be dead by morning.

After the group disappeared in the house, Natalie took a deep breath and sighed. Taking her pack off and opening it, she removed the bungee rope she hadn't had to use for a last few months. Night was settling in, and there was no way she would get far in the darkness. She was going to have to sleep in a tree again. Forcing herself not to think about the group on the inside, she wrapped the rope around herself and the tree several times, tying it tight enough she wouldn't fall loose in the middle of the night. Natalie settled her head against the tree and watched the sun as it set. She closed her eyes and tried to not think about the group she had probably just sent to their doom-particularly the little boy with deep blue eyes that so reminded of her Cory. Her sleep would be fitful that night, but it wouldn't be due to nightmares.


	5. Cloudburst

**AN: Hi everyone! So here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay. I've been out of town a few days looking at apartments with no internet access...but here we are! I really appreciate everyone that has either favorited or followed this. I love getting feedback so if you read I would love to hear your thoughts :) And if you do review, I will try and respond to it personally from now on. Hope you like it!**

**Also, I am playing with the timeline of the story at this point so when the farm does come up (in the next chapter) they will be at the farm later in the year than in the show.  
**

Present day, in another part of Georgia:

"You've ruined everything Blake!"

General Anderson's face was ablaze with hate and fury as he looked at the man that was holding a gun to his forehead.

"Oh, but you see I think I've done the first good thing for Woodbury since the infection started."

Phillip sneered at the General. "We can now make it a working and functioning town. You and your men were merely using it as an army base. You weren't utilizing it to its full potential."

Phillip gestured towards the streets of the city. His men were picking up the dead bodies of the National Guardsmen, placing them in piles to be burned.

"We can now move my people in and protect them adequately. You and your men will have our eternal gratitude for building the walls, and the people in our group will know the sacrifices you made to protect the town from being overrun. I'll tell them how you and your men went over the walls to keep my men and myself safe on the inside. The new residents of Woodbury will honor your memory."

General Anderson's turned red and the veins in his temples bulged. He looked dangerously close to lunging at Phillip.

"We kept you and your men safe. We gave you food and water, a place to sleep. We took you in and said we would take the rest of your group in. We would have cared for you." General Anderson's scowl intensified.

"You think the people of your group are so dense they won't know you gunned down twenty innocent soldiers so you could act as the savior that brought them to a fortified stronghold? You think they won't know what kind of man you are?"

Phillip leered at the general. "I know what kind of man I am General. I know who needs to stay alive—and who needs to die."

Without hesitation, Phillip pulled the trigger and the General's body fell to the ground in a pool of blood and brain matter. Phillip quickly knelt, took out his knife, and made a few quick cuts on the General's body. Stepping back and perusing his work, he smiled in satisfaction. He stepped over the over the body, leaving it for his men to burn.

"Cooper! Martinez!" He called. The men looked over from the body they were dragging towards the piles of the other soldiers.

"I'm gonna need the head off of this one. Milton needs it for testing. Oh, and make sure the roads are cleared of blood. Remember, these men died on the outside of the walls." The men nodded their heads in acknowledgement and headed towards the General's body.

Phillip made his way to his car, which was parked between two buildings, out of sight of the men clearing the streets. As he approached the back of the car he could hear a slight scratching coming from the trunk. Careful to give himself enough space, he released the latch on the trunk and a small body attempted to lunge at him, only to be stopped by the ropes that bound its arms and legs together. Its eyes were filmed over and blank and the teeth gnashing at him held remnants of its last meal.

"How're you doing Penny?" Phillip's voice had lowered, become warmer. He was answered with a series of angry hisses and growls. Phillip smiled down at his daughter, who was working desperately to get out of the trunk to bite a chunk out of him.

"Daddy has a treat for you." Again, Penny replied with a growl. Phillip gently took his daughter out of the trunk, making sure to keep her gnashing teeth away from him, and laid her on the ground. He removed a long metal chain and looped it securely around her neck like a collar, securing the other end around a drainage pipe on the building next to his car. Phillip gently untied her hands, rubbing her wrists where the rope had cut into the decaying flesh. He then untied her feet. Free now, Penny leaped to her feet and lunged toward Phillip, only to be held in place by the chain, which clanked loudly against the drainage pipe. Phillip glanced around the car, making sure that none of his men had heard the commotion.

"Here Penny, time for dinner." Phillip removed the General's hand from his pocket, which he had cut off promptly after killing him. Gingerly, he tossed the hand in Penny's direction and she set upon it like a rabid dog. Phillip stood back and had to swallow the unpleasant taste that rose in his throat.

"I don't know how you can eat that stuff honey." He scowled. "You won't need to eat it soon."

Phillip could feel his blood starting to boil when he thought of how Natalie had eluded him since her escape. He and the men of the camp had searched for her since then and had been unsuccessful. At this point she could be dead, but Phillip doubted that. She had killed Tim in cold blood, and this told Phillip that she was willing to do anything to stay alive.

At this point, he didn't just want Natalie for her immunity, although he still believed she held the key to the infection. He wanted revenge. He wanted to punish her for what she had done to him. Natalie had greatly damaged the muscle power of the camp when she and her husband had murdered the five men, including Tim. She had taken his eye. Worst of all, she had deprived him of his daughter. Until she was captured, he would have to continue feeding his daughter the bloody bits she so desperately craved and keep her locked up like an animal. He would never get his precious Penny back until Natalie was found.

"I'll find her honey." Phillip looked lovingly at his daughter, who had finished her meal and was now straining at her chain, looking at him with hunger in her dead eyes.

"I'll find that bitch and when I do her blood will spill—but not before we can cure you. I'm going to get you back."

Before he turned back to return his daughter to the trunk, Phillip looked up at the sky, noticing the sun straining to be seen through the ominous black clouds on the horizon. There was a storm brewing, he could tell. And it was coming soon.

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_Crack_!

Natalie was startled awake by the sound of thunder. The dark grey clouds that covered the sky dulled the early morning light, and Natalie estimated it couldn't be later than 7 AM. Rain poured down in sheets and the wind was roaring through the tree, making the branches sway wildly. The branch she was on now was bending as far as it could without breaking and she feared it would break, leaving her stuck tied to the trunk of the tree. A streak of lightning fully illuminated the surrounding area and Natalie could make out the silhouettes of the houses. There was no movement within the development and for a second she thought the group had abandoned the idea of staying there and left. This wasn't the case when she shifted and saw the vehicles still parked in the distance.

The night before the group had quickly disposed of any biters inhabiting the house they were staying in and brought them outside. They looked like they had been doing this sort of thing for a while and Natalie wondered how long they had all been together. She also made note that they seemed fairly well-stocked, so if they hung around she was going to help herself to some of their supplies.

Although it was dark out the old man had come out with the Asian kid and the man with crossbow, the latter standing guard while the former held a flashlight so the old man could see the engine of the RV.

The man with the crossbow didn't appear to be listening to their conversation, instead peering into the darkness with a perpetual 'just ate something sour' expression. He appeared to be scanning the area for anything living—or dead. At one point as she surveyed the group through the scope she swore she locked eyes with him, and she had quickly lowered her rifled and shrank back, attempting to blend into the trunk of the tree. He made no movement in her direction, however, and she chalked up what she saw to mere paranoia.

Drawing her attention away from the man she now deemed the 'sour puss' of the group, she studied the way the old man and the young Asian man interacted. It almost looked like the old man was trying to teach his younger protégé how to repair something in the engine and Natalie couldn't help but marvel at the way they smiled and conversed with each other. At one point, when it looked like they had repaired whatever they needed to in the RV, the old man put his hand on the younger man's shoulder and talked to him as a father would talk intently to a son, a very _Leave it to Beaver_ type moment. Watching the two men work side by side, Natalie felt a deep yearning for her own family.

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_Mark held the phone to his ear, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up. He glanced at the clock. 3 AM._

_"Hello?" A female voice that sounded noticeably gruff from just being woken up answered the phone._

_"Harriet?" Mark tried to keep his voice even but he had a hard time containing his excitement. He glanced down at Natalie, who looked tired but breathtakingly beautiful considering the early hour of the morning._

_"Mark, what's going on?" The woman's voice sounded louder now, more alert. _

_"Harriet, you and Albert need to be on the phone. Hurry, please." Mark could hear Harriet rustling a probably snoring Albert out of his slumber and informing him to get on the phone quickly._

_"Mark, what's the meaning of this?" Albert's voice rumbled through the phone and there was a sense of urgency to his tone. "Is everything alright, is Natalie alright?"_

_"She's fine she just has to tell you something." Without another word, Mark handed the phone quickly to Natalie, his face breaking out into an ear-splitting grin. _

_"Hi Mom, Dad," Natalie sounded tired and worn out, but content. _

_"Natalie, what's going on? Are you ok?" Her mother's voice increased in intensity and Natalie felt a little guilty for not calming them sooner. She could only imagine what a 3 AM call with no explanation could do to a parent._

_"Everything's fine mom, I'm fine, Mark's fine, we're all fine." Natalie couldn't keep the smile out of her voice. _

_"And Mom, Dad…you can start buying blue."_

_There was a pause on the other end of the line and the collective whoop that came through the phone almost made her laugh. It was loud enough the nurse that was checking her vitals smiled when she heard the noise. _

_"That's right guys…you're grandparents." _

_Harriet and Albert happily congratulated Natalie and made sure she was feeling ok. They talked with Mark quickly and congratulated him on being a father and promised they would hit the road the first thing the next morning after her father administered a test at the university._

_A little while later Natalie was cradling her newborn baby boy to her chest, marveling at all of his delicate features. He had a head full of blond hair and his eyes were a deep blue. Mark entered the room from taking a quick bathroom break and smiled down at his wife and son. Natalie looked up at him, tears of happiness in her eyes._

_"I can't believe I love someone this much. And I just met him. How is that possible?" Mark smiled and put his arm around his young wife, kissing her forehead. _

_"It's how I felt about you when we first met. Guess it's a shared trait we have." Natalie chuckled softly, leaning her head against her husband's chest. _

_"I hope he has that trait too." There was a brief lull in their conversation, and the peace that settled in the room felt like a warm blanket to both of them. Natalie leaned her head back and looked into her husband's eyes._

_"I thought of a name. I wasn't sure if you'd like it." _

_Mark gazed into the eyes of the woman he loved more than life itself and in that moment he didn't know if life could be more perfect._

_"I'll like whatever you pick babe." Natalie leaned her head down and inhaled the scent of her newborn baby, the fresh smell of talcum powder and clean skin. He was a bundle of warmth and love in her arms._

_"Well then," she whispered, "Mark, I'd like you to meet your son, Cory."_

_888888888888888888888_

Natalie was jarred out of her memories by another clap of thunder that almost made her jump and lose her balance on the branch. She cursed herself for losing concentration again and focused her attention back on the housing development. She thought about the group inside and wondered if they had been able to sleep better than she had, since sleeping in a tree was about as comfortable as tweed.

She quickly undid the rope that was holding her to the tree. Scanning the area around the house she noticed that a couple of the people in the group were making their way in and out of the development. One was a member of the group she hadn't noticed before, a large African-American man, and the other was the slender, curly-haired man. She assumed he was the leader of the group considering how he had mitigated the argument the day before. She observed as they picked up the biters that had been removed from the house the night before and put them into piles. Natalie wasn't sure what exactly they were doing but they appeared to be thoroughly absorbed in their work. It was only when another flash of lighting lit up the area that she let out a gasp.

Since the storm was right over them, the thunderclaps were intense and loud—and drawing the attention, it seemed, of every biter within the premises. She watched as they seemed to crawl and stagger out of houses, woodsheds, between buildings, everywhere. They looked like animals coming out of hibernation looking for their next meal. And they were headed straight towards the two very unaware men.

Natalie struggled internally. She had to somehow draw the attention of the men, warn them somehow. But that would make them aware of her presence and Natalie was very satisfied with being invisible to them. On the other hand, she knew if these men and the rest of the group died their blood would be on her hands.

The decision was taken away from her when she heard the shout of the man with the curly hair. He had seen the hoard of biters heading their way and had his gun out, shooting the biters in the head with deadly accuracy. Natalie briefly noted his aim was far superior to hers and she had to force herself to concentrate on the events that were unfolding before her eyes. The man gestured wildly towards the house, and the African-American man ran into the house. Only moments after the brown-haired man started shouting the man with the crossbow and the other large man with dark hair came spilling out of the house, guns at the ready. Natalie could only watch as they took down biters with only more being drawn toward the gun shots.

The door to the house burst open and she could see the members of the group stumbling wildly out the front door, carrying a few items they had brought in with them, far fewer than they initially brought in, and running frantically towards the entrance of Wilshire Estates. They were trying to make their way to the vehicles and Natalie found herself hoping the old man had been able to repair the RV. The thin woman was running, holding her son's hand and the woman with the short hair was running, her daughter a short distance behind her. The young Asian man and the African American man joined in shooting the biters and were taking them down, but the crowd was only growing larger.

Natalie noticed then that a biter was closing in on the little girl and she could only watch as the little girl tripped, falling to the ground and the biter behind her stumbled onto her. The little girl's screams made her mother turn around but the woman was too far away to reach her daughter in time, and the men were almost surrounded by the biters.

Without thinking, Natalie raised her gun and looked through the scope. The little girl was struggling underneath the biter, trying to hold it back by its shoulders. Its jaws were inches from the girl's face and Natalie reacted. She felt her finger on the trigger and the kickback of the rifle as she shot at the biter. Through the scope she saw the biter fall, and the little girl struggled out from underneath it. The little girl ran back in the direction of the house and ran inside, her mother screaming frantically after her. The mother started running toward the house but was held back by the thin woman who had stopped when she heard the little girl's screams. Natalie's heart started pounding loudly when she saw the little boy who, with his mother not holding his hand, ran back and entered the house, no doubt trying to help his friend.

Both mothers started screaming for their children and ran toward the house, only to be dragged back towards the cars by the men who started retreating due to the overwhelming number of biters still pouring forth from the other houses in the development. One of the men tried to run back toward the house to get the children but the entrance was quickly blocked by the biters. There was no way he was getting through to the children.

From her vantage point she saw the mothers dragged away to the vehicles and the gate to the development shut, effectively shutting the children in with the biters. Amidst the howls of the wind she could hear the screams of the mothers. They were screams similar to the ones she made when her own son was killed.

Natalie felt her heart hammering in her chest and knew she couldn't just sit here any longer. She saw the biters gathered outside the house. Some had wandered to the gate and were pounding on it, trying to get to the group outside and some were at the door of the house, trying with all their might to get to the meal they knew was inside. The rain was still coming down in sheets so Natalie wasn't sure if she was seeing correctly. From the way she was facing in the tree and the way the house was angled she had a partial view of the front and back of the house. At least forty biters were trying to get in the front of the house. Squinting, she could see something swing up and she saw the boy and the girl pop up, almost as if they sprung up out of the ground.

"_Basement door stupid,_" she thought to herself and she could see the kids scrambling across the open back lawn, away from the biters but back into the development. The walls were so high that the group on the outside, who were now gathered around their vehicles looking at the development and no doubt trying to figure out a way to save the children, couldn't see the kids when they got out of the basement.

Cursing, Natalie acted before she could analyze what she was doing. She leapt from the tree to the wall surrounding the neighborhood. She sat on the wall and eased herself to the ground, knowing the 12-foot drop could possibly cause a broken ankle if she wasn't careful. She bent her knees to soften her landing and straightened, staring off into the direction the kids ran. She could barely see anything due to the rain, but at this point there was no turning back. With a deep breath she set off running through the torrential downpour in the direction she saw the kids go, praying she wouldn't run into too many of the former residents of Wilshire Estates on the way.


	6. Cornered

**AN: After this I'll be putting any note stuff at the bottom, figure it's more enjoyable for anyone to get to the actual chapter first. Anyway, to a couple reviewers: **

**NL March: Thanks so much for reviewing. I'm glad you like the way the Governor is coming out, to me he is nowhere near as creepy in the TV show as he is in the comics. Be ready for even more evil and insanity in future chapters :)  
**

**HermioneandMarcus: Thanks for the kind review, hope you like this chapter as well!  
**

******I have to thank Spitfire47 for being such an awesome beta. If you haven't, check out _Revive_, it's also got some great Governor creepiness. :) **

**Thanks for reading, and again, any criticisms are welcome.  
**

As she ran through the downpour Natalie scanned the area for biters that might have seen her movements. They were still practically stacked on top of each other trying to get in the front door of the house. She knew it wouldn't be long before they caught onto the scent of fresh meat on the wind and would realize their meal was on the run.

Luckily, the thunder and lightning were starting to fade so the sounds and flashing lights that attracted the monstrosities from out of hiding wouldn't be a problem for now. On the negative side, there was no telling how big this development was and exactly how many biters dwelled there. Natalie could feel her legs burning with the effort of sprinting to the backyard, and Natalie remembered the large pack on her back.

"_Should have hidden this outside_," she berated herself. It didn't help that the pack she carried had at least fifty pounds of supplies including ammunition and food. The gun easily added another ten. It wasn't like she could just leave it sitting somewhere within the development. The pack held everything she ever used to survive, and to lose it would be akin to cutting off her legs in a room full of biters.

There was no fence surrounding the backyard of the house so Natalie could easily see the cellar doors the children had popped out of only minutes before. She noticed they were similar to the kind seen on storm cellars. She slowed, eyeing the door and water-logged ground around it. The grass was high from not being cut for so long, but she could make out the indentations from where the children had run through the yard. She followed the trail slowly, pausing every few seconds to make sure a biter hadn't spotted her. She was thankful the trail was so clear due to the wet grass and made a note to herself that she really needed to work on this skill. It would come in handy for hunting later.

The houses around her were dark, the large windows seeming to leer at her in the early morning light. The paint on the houses was cracked and faded from neglect, and the bushes that were probably meticulous at one point were now overgrown and wild. Natalie shivered, the cold air penetrating to her core. It truly felt like a ghost town.

"_This was so stupid," _she thought, _"You're going to let yourself get killed for a group that could kill you for everything you had..."_

"_No, you're coming in here to save two children from certain death_," Mark's voice said in an irritated tone.

Natalie was slightly taken aback but felt herself agreeing with him. These were children and they needed her help. If she left them here she would never forgive herself.

Natalie walked through a few more backyards before the trail veered right and ended at a back porch. She could see two sets of fresh muddy footprints that made their way to the back sliding screen door. There were glass shards on the ground from where someone had broken the window to get the door open. If the kids weren't here now, they definitely had been recently. Natalie hoped they hadn't met anything sinister when they got inside. Pulling her knife from its sheath and a flashlight from her pack, she slowly opened the back door, cringing when it squeaked loudly. WD40 would have been helpful at that moment.

When nothing stumbled out of the darkness at the noise, Natalie slipped inside. She kept the door open behind her. The last thing she needed to be doing was ringing the damn dinner bell. Natalie saw she was standing in a large living room, the pieces of antique furniture reminiscent of the American colonial period. The light from outside streamed through the open, now dingy curtains on the large windows, exposing a thick layer of dust coating everything in the room. Natalie noticed a large, dried pool of blood on the hardwood floors and wondered about the fate of the house's former occupants.

The sounds of stifled sobbing made her whirl, her knife raised. In the far corner of the large living room by the brick fireplace where the light didn't fully reach, she could make out two small figures. Raising her flashlight slowly, she saw that it was indeed the boy and the girl. She kept the light so it didn't shine directly into their faces.

The boy had his arms around the little girl. They both stared at Natalie with fear-filled eyes. The boy's blue eyes bore into her. The girl had tears running down her face and her short brown hair hung in strands around her face as she looked at the ground, not looking directly at Natalie.

Taking a few slow steps closer, Natalie removed her pack and gun from her back and lowered them and her knife to the ground. She kept her eyes on the two children. Without her weapons she felt exposed, naked even, but she didn't want the children to feel threatened. Natalie could feel their eyes trained on her across the room.

With her bag and weapons on the ground Natalie wasn't sure what to do now. She straightened and only stared at the two figures that hadn't moved an inch. It had been so long since she had talked to someone that wasn't the ghost of her dead husband, she wasn't sure what constituted normal conversation anymore.

"_You're an idiot_," Mark's voice was in her ears. The children didn't react so she knew the voice was in her head. "_Maybe tell them who the hell you are so they don't piss themselves. Look at them, they're terrified. You had a kid once, remember?"_

Shaking her head to clear it of Mark's presence, Natalie again walked slowly toward the children and stepped deftly around the glass-top coffee table blocking her path. She stopped a few feet from them and crouched so she was eye-level with them.

"You guys alright?" Her voice came out slightly husky and raw, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. The girl squeaked and the boy tensed as if poised to run.

Natalie held up a hand trying to ease their tension. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm Nat—"

She was abruptly cut off by a scream from the girl and the boy pointed at her, crying urgently, "Look out!"

Natalie heard the hiss before she felt the cold, bony fingers clamp down on her shoulder and she spun around attempting to straighten from her crouched position, coming face to face with a very obese female biter. She could feel its hot breath on her face and her hands automatically went to its shoulders to push it away, and keep its chomping teeth away from her body. Unfortunately the biter had caught her completely off-guard and she teetered unbalanced. For a few precarious seconds she and the biter struggled to maintain their footing but they ultimately failed, falling hard into and shattering the glass of the coffee table.

Natalie instantly felt a sharp pain in her side just underneath her ribs and she felt the blood starting to flow, soaking through her shirt. The smell of blood filled the biter's decaying nostrils and she could almost feel the desperation in its struggle to subdue her.

"Get out of here!" she screamed at the children, who were staring at her in horror. They abruptly turned and ran through a closed door into another room of the house. Natalie didn't have time to worry about them due to her own struggle at the moment.

The biter desperately tried to reach her face and for a few seconds all Natalie felt was the air from the biter's teeth as they kept gnashing together in anticipation of the first bite. She couldn't let go of the biter to reach for her knife or gun because her hands were holding its teeth at bay. Maneuvering her lower body, Natalie sat up and bent her knee. With a burst of adrenaline she shoved the immense biter's shoulders and kicked it in the stomach at the same time, sending it back a few feet. The biter quickly recovered and began crawling toward her desperately.

Natalie didn't have time to struggle to her feet before the biter grabbed her foot, clamping its teeth down on the toe of her boot. Luckily it was thick enough the biter's teeth couldn't penetrate it. Natalie rammed the heel of her other boot down on the biter's face and started crab walking backwards. The biter continued crawling toward her and Natalie tried to get to her feet yet again. She slipped in the blood that had seeped from her wound and was now all over her hands and the floor, and landed flat on her ass.

The biter managed to struggle to its feet and now fell on her again, its huge body effectively pinning her to the floor. Desperately, Natalie held the biter away but could feel her strength starting to wane. With one hand on the biter's chest she threw the other out and managed to wrap her hand around a large piece of thick glass from the coffee table. Gritting her teeth in fury she rammed the glass through the side of the biter's head. It continued its assault and she drew the glass shard back again. With a final cry she smashed the shard into the biter's brain. The biter immediately stopped its fight and collapsed, its dead weight coming down on top of her.

Natalie threw the piece of glass to the side and laid her head back against the ground, panting heavily. The biter was huge and its weight was cutting off the amount of oxygen she could take in. She was getting dizzy from blood loss and her attempt to push it off was feeble at best. There was no way she was getting this biter off without help.

Natalie, with her limited range of motion, turned her head and looked toward the door where the boy and girl had run. Taking as deep a breath as she could muster due to the obnoxious weight on her chest, she called out quietly.

"Hey guys…little boy, little girl are you in there?"

There was a moment of silence, and then she saw the door move and the frightened eyes of the boy and girl were now peering out at her. When they saw the dead walker on top of her, they opened the door wider, the boy taking the lead.

"Did it bite you?" The boy lingered back out of her reach and Natalie had to give him credit. He knew the rules of survival.

"No, just collapsed on me. She's too heavy…I can't get her off." The boy edged closer and knelt, peering down into Natalie's face.

"If I help you…can you help us get out of here?" Natalie studied the boy's face. He couldn't be more than twelve. He had a slight smattering of freckles across the bridge of his upturned nose and his cheeks still carried hints of baby fat. His brown hair had been cut recently and stuck out in different places around his head. She looked up and looked into his eyes. Those blue, clear eyes, just like Cory's but older. They looked at her with a hint of suspicion, but she noticed the glint of hope there. Both the children needed her. Feeling like she was going against her better judgement, Natalie nodded slightly in silent agreement.

The boy smiled, almost enthusiastically. "I'm Carl, and this is Sophia. We're from around Atlanta."

"Natalie. From North Carolina." Natalie managed to at least wheeze out this information.

"I don't mean to be rude, Carl…but can we do introductions when I'm not being smothered by a decaying corpse?" Carl nodded, his face blushing at the slight rebuke.

"You're going to have to help me push it off at the same time. Push it from its side, that's it." Carl positioned himself next to the body of the biter and turned toward Sophia, who hadn't moved from the doorway.

"Sophia, we're gonna need your help. This lady was FAT." Despite the situation Natalie let out a choked laugh. Sophia timidly made her way over to them and positioned herself next to Carl.

"Ok," Natalie said. "On three, we all push the fat bitch off." The children's faces scrunched slightly at the language but they didn't say anything.

"One, two, three." With a grunt from all of them they managed to completely flip the biter off, and it landed with a heavy thud on the floor next to her. Natalie took a full breath, relieved the weight was now off her chest. She sat up, wincing in pain as she felt where the glass had stabbed her in the side. The children stood next to her looking unsure of what to do.

"Natalie, you're…you're bleeding." Carl pointed to her side and Natalie didn't have to look to know her jacket and shirt were drenched in her blood.

"It's not anything. Just a scratch from the glass." She waved her hand flippantly, pointing to the glass shards from the now destroyed coffee table. She flipped her hair and tried to appear nonchalant even though her side felt as though it was on fire and she was feeling a little lightheaded. Natalie attempted a smile but Sophia started to cry again.

"The walkers, they're everywhere! They're going to get us, if I hadn't run into the house we would be out there with our families." Carl took the girl in a hug and Natalie struggled into a crouch, trying to keep a straight face while her tired muscles screamed.

"Don't cry, you couldn't have known. For now, I need you to hold yourself together. Crying won't solve anything." Natalie hadn't meant to sound harsh but right now she needed to focus on getting the children out and Sophia's cries would only serve to attract more biters.

"Most of the biters are in the front of the development and I bet there's a back gate to this place. What do you say we find a way out of here so you can get back to your group?" Carl looked at her quizzically.

"Biters?" He asked. Natalie nodded.

"The dead people." Carl nodded thoughtfully in understanding.

"We call them walkers. You know…because they just walk." Natalie let out a small chuckle.

"I think I like your name better than mine. Much more…imaginative." It was also a name for the dead that hadn't been "invented" by Phillip. Natalie decided she would adopt this new name from now on.

With extra effort she got to her feet, the wound in her side burning. She ambled over to her pack and opened it, locating the t-shirt she was looking for. Quickly, Natalie ripped the t-shirt into a long strip and looked back to Carl and Sophia. "If you guys are squeamish you might want to keep watch out the door."

The kids quickly turned to face the porch door and Natalie lifted her shirt. She tied the make shift bandage around her torso, securing the knot over the wound, which made her smirk. She had been a lifeguard at one point in her life and she never guessed she would be using the basic first aid skills during the apocalypse.

Natalie tried to grab the pack and hoist it over her shoulders but the weight made her side scream in pain. With a grunt she dropped the pack, the loud thump making the kids jump.

Sophia turned and looked at her. "What do you need that for? We need to get out of here!"

Natalie tried not to look frustrated. "It's got everything I ever use in it. If I lose this I'm as good as dead. I can't leave it."

Sophia put her hands on her hips and assumed a confronting stance."We have a lot of stuff. Mr. Grimes can give you food and anything you want. We can tell him you helped—"

"I said I can't leave it." Natalie said sharply, giving Sophia a warning look. Sophia promptly shut her mouth.

"Uh, guys? GUYS?" Carl's urgent tone made Natalie look out the window and her heart dropped. The crowd of walkers from earlier, although it had dissipated down to about 15, was ambling slowly toward the house. They had no doubt heard the commotion from earlier and come to investigate. They were a good three-hundred yards off but they were closing in on any escape routes.

"Shit, shit shit." Natalie swore. She tried to lift the pack again but it was useless. With a slight moan she flung open the zipper, grabbing a box of ammo for the shotgun and the small first aid kit.

"Sophia, come here." She ordered sharply. Sophia hurried over to her and Natalie handed her the kit. "I need you to hold onto this for me. If any of us gets hurt and can't get out we're going to need this."

Sophia nodded urgently, her eyes glancing outside, flashing with fear.

"Carl, you and Sophia are to stay together. I'm going to be right behind you guys but if I get taken down, you two are going to have to get out of here. There has to be a back gate to this place. We're going to have to run."

Turning quickly back to her pack, Natalie pulled out the Glock she barely used, since she preferred the weight of her shotgun. She turned back to Carl.

"Do you know how to use one of these?"

Carl looked up at her, his eyes wide. "I've held one, my mom and dad won't let me…"

"Ok, well, now you'll learn. The safety's off now. Don't point it at anyone but a walker. When they get near enough, you aim with both eyes open down the top of the barrel, shoot them in the head." She felt like she was barking orders at the kid. Natalie removed the magazine quickly, making sure it was full.

"You have 15 rounds. Make sure to keep track." Carl nodded. He had gone slightly pale and his lips were pursed tightly together. She knew this was a lot of information to throw at the kid but it was all she could do in the short time they had left.

"I'm gonna need you to focus Carl. I need you both to focus. If you don't we will all die. Do you understand me?" She pressed them urgently. Both kids nodded in understanding. She looked out the window and saw the walkers starting to come up the back porch. Bounding to her feet she threw the sliding porch door closed, securing the lock. It wouldn't hold the horde for long. Turning back to the kids, she knelt and picked up her gun and knife, securing the box of ammo into the waistband of her pants.

"Ok…Carl, Sophia? No matter what happens you _have_ to listen to me. Do not question what I say. If you don't, we die." She turned from them.

"If there's anything I'm going to do right, it's this." This last part was more to herself than to the two children that were now depending on her for safety.


	7. Abscond and Avoid

**AN: Well, here's another update! Thanks to my great beta Spitfire47, and thanks to those that have read and/or reviewed :)  
**

**NL March: Thanks, I'm glad it came across that she hasn't gone all bad. I'm really trying to explore the whole morality side of things with her, and there will be quite a few more struggles with her in this area. Thanks for reading!  
**

**HermioneandMarcus: Thanks so much again for the kind review and sticking with this story. I appreciate it :)  
**

**Not much else to say except hope you guys like it!  
**

Natalie assessed the weapons between her and the two children, and determined it was time for them to make their move.

"Ok, we have to make our way to the front of the house. Was it through that door you ran through?" The kids nodded and she went first through the swinging door into a dining room, the kids following after her. Natalie saw the front entryway to her right so she went and peered through the front window.

Not seeing anything, she motioned Sophia and Carl to follow her. She opened the door slowly and peered out to the left, than the right. They were facing the street and fortunately it was completely empty. Most of the walkers were around the back of the house, and those that weren't there yet were following the others toward the potential food source. She walked out of the house into the full sunlight and walked slowly to the street, the children following close behind her.

They started walking down the street toward what Natalie guessed was the back of the development. The streets were empty and Natalie felt uneasy. It was quiet. Too quiet. They walked a few more blocks in silence and came up to a T-intersection. As they approached the intersection, Natalie looked to her left and saw two large, wrought iron gates, the kind that opened simultaneously. She noticed the little white building where whoever used to guard the place probably would open the gate manually.

She was starting to smile when a shriek from Sophia made her turn her head. To her right was a horde of at least 50 walkers wandering in the street. Sophia's shriek drew their attention to the three pieces of fresh meat that had just walked into the lion's den. The walker's started ambling toward the little group and Natalie felt her panic surge.

"Run!" Natalie screamed. They all turned and sprinted for the back gate, Natalie praying the whole time it could be moved manually. They reached it and Natalie and Carl tried to pull back on one of the gates. Nothing.

"It won't move!" Carl yelled, and he continued to struggle to open the large iron monstrosity.

"It's electronic." Natalie yelled back, and she whirled around to see the walkers closing in on them. Turning back to the gate, she saw the tiny keyhole and a thought occurred to her.

"Keep trying to get it open" she barked at Sophia and Carl. Sprinting at full speed and ignoring the pain in her side, she got to the guard stand and ripped open the door. There were different drawers in the counter and she prayed her revelation was correct.

Opening each different drawer she cursed but was rewarded when the second to last drawer she opened held what she was looking for…a ring of keys. They were the keys that guards kept in case the gate malfunctioned and needed to be opened manually. Grabbing them up with a triumphant "Ha," she ran back to the children. The biters were still coming up the street but were the mere distance of a football field away.

"They're getting closer," Sophia shrieked, and Natalie had to keep herself from panicking.

"Carl, take the keys! You have to find one that fits the gate!" She yelled, thrusting the keys at him and turning back to shoot a few walkers that had gotten too close.

"I can't, there's too many!" Carl was fumbling through the key ring that held at least a dozen keys. The crowd of walkers was approaching them too fast. He wouldn't get through all of them before the crowd was upon them. Natalie did the only thing then she could think of.

"Come on, I'll boost you over!" She knelt and clasped her hands together to form a step.

"I can't!" Sophia's look of terror almost made Natalie panic.

"Sophia, you have to get your ass over there now! Come on!" Natalie yelled.

Sophia threw the first aid kit through the fence and put her foot in Natalie's hands. With a burst of adrenaline Natalie pushed her up and the girl was able to reach the top of the gate, which wasn't quite as high as the fence that surrounded the property.

"Pull Sophia, you have to pull!" Natalie screamed. Sophia managed to scramble over the top of the gate, and landed in a heap on the other side, crying out when she landed but springing to her feet unharmed. She booted Carl up next and he slid over the fence much more easily, probably from climbing trees constantly like young boys are prone to do.

"Now you!" Carl screamed and Natalie tried to climb the gate but to no avail. The pain in her side prevented her from even pulling herself up. Her only chance was the keys. Natalie turned and saw the walkers were yards away so she took a couple quick shots to take out the ones that led the pack. Turning around she picked up the keys, trying each one. The first one, the second one, the third…none fit. She could feel the tears spring to her eyes and she was almost ready to throw in the towel when she heard a shot beside her. She looked down and saw Carl with the Glock raised, having shot down a biter that was almost on her. She didn't have time to thank him but instead continued trying to unlock the gate.

Finally, on the eighth key she turned she heard the welcome click of the lock releasing. Natalie threw the gate open and scrambled through, slamming it shut and locking it behind her, just as the horde of walkers descended on the gate. She grabbed the two children and threw them and herself back to the ground, out of reach of the walkers. Natalie closed her eyes, trying to take in slow, deep breaths to slow her beating heart. She was vaguely aware of sobbing and opened her eyes to see Sophia clutching Carl, and Carl looking at her with wide eyes. Natalie sat up slowly, the adrenaline subsiding and the aches and pains of the day coming down on her full force.

"You guys alright?" Natalie asked. She wasn't quite prepared for the next reaction. Sophia and Carl ran toward her and threw their arms around her. She grunted in pain when Carl ran into her wounded side but quickly recovered, feeling her arms tighten around the two children.

"Thank you." Sophia murmured and Natalie could feel the girl's wet tears on her cheek. Natalie pulled herself back, trying to compose herself.

"Were either of you bit?" She asked roughly. Carl and Sophia held out their arms and shook their heads. Taking a deep breath, she struggled to her feet, hauling her gun to her back.

"I need to get you both to your group. They're probably worried sick." She started to walk around the side of the building and felt Carl slip his hand into hers. Natalie felt a lump rise in her throat.

"When we get back to them we can introduce you to everyone. They'll be so happy you were there to help us!" He smiled up at her and Natalie smiled tightly back at him. She felt Sophia grab her other hand and they started walking around the perimeter of the development, back toward the group.

With every step Natalie felt the dread in the pit of her stomach building. There was no way she was going to meet the group. No way was she going to be drawn back into the same trap as the first time.

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Rick Grimes paced back and forth in front of the gate to Wilshire Estates. He ran through his brown curls, trying his best to keep it together in front of the group standing in front of him. He had almost reached his breaking point but the people around him were depending on him to get them to safety. The only problem was that they had just run for their lives from the walkers of Wilshire Estates—only to leave the children of the group behind to fend for themselves. Sophia and Carl were still inside, and from what he could see the walkers were close to breaking down the front door of the house.

Lori and Carol were on the ground, holding each other and crying for the children they now believed were doomed. Lori wouldn't look at him and Rick cursed himself. This was his fault. He had insisted this could be a safe haven and now…now Carl and Sophia were good as dead. Rick tried not to think about his son in the clutches of walkers and instead rushed to the RV away from Shane who had been arguing with him at length about how to go about getting the children out.

"We need to get back in there. Shane, how much ammo do we have left?" He asked urgently.

"At this point not a lot, getting out of there pretty much wiped us clean." Shane threw the gun bag to the ground he had picked up when they ran out of the house. He opened it up and began counting the weapons.

"Rick, I don't know if it's ok to go back in there at this point. We don't have enough ammo and there's too many walkers. We won't get more than a few yards. We might have to wait until nightfall for them to spread out more so they can't gain up on us." Shane looked pointedly Rick and Rick stared back in disbelief.

"This is Sophia, this is _Carl_ we are talking about here. We can't just leave them in there! There has to be a way to get in there now, there has to be…" He was cut off at the sound of gunshots and turned around to stare at the development. Shane and Daryl instinctively raised their weapons and everyone in the group turned to stare in the direction of the shots. They were coming from the opposite side of the development.

"Did either of them have guns?" Lori's voice came out high-pitched but hopeful and Carol got to her feet in a haste.

"That has to be them, we have to go find them!" Carol yelled desperately.

"No!" Rick shouted. "No, we have to stay together. Shane, Daryl and I will go check it out. Dale, stay on watch. Glenn, you and T-Dog take a couple guns and stand guard. Lori, Carol, Andrea, you all get in the RV. If anything happens you can all get out of here quick, head for Fort Benning." Nobody argued with him, but he didn't miss the dirty look from Andrea he received as he rushed by her. She wasn't one to be stuck behind with the women and children.

Rick took out his Colt Python and started to head in the direction of the gunshots, Daryl and Shane right behind him. Since the development was built in a square shape he slowed as he reached the edge, not wanting to plow into someone—or something—when he rounded the corner. He turned to Daryl and Shane and put his fingers to his lips, indicating silence and stealth were needed. They slowly approached the corner, weapons raised, ready to deal with whatever was around the corner.

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As they approached the corner of the development that would ultimately lead back to the group, Natalie knelt to look in the children's eyes.

"Ok guys. This is where I get off." Carl and Sophia looked up at her with disbelieving eyes.

"But…but you can't," Sophia stammered. "You need to come to the group. You're hurt and they can help you, and my momma will want to thank you and…" Natalie cut her off by resting her fingers lightly on Sophia's lips.

"I'm sure your momma will just be happy you're ok." She turned to Carl and cupped his cheek with her palm.

"And your momma is going to want to hold you tight and never let you go." Carl grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"Please Natalie, you have to come. You shouldn't be out here…alone." Natalie felt the familiar lump in her throat and swallowed it down. She straightened, slipping her hands quickly from the two kids and making her face neutral

"I've been on my own for a while, Carl. I'll manage," She gave the kids a tight smile that didn't reach her eyes. "But both of you need to make sure you stay with your group. Next time it might not be me that finds you…or there might not be anyone there at all."

"You have to do this for me though…when you get to your group, don't tell them about me. Just tell them you found a gun in one of the houses and were able to get out the back fence. Consider it payback for getting your butts out of there." The children looked up at her questioningly.

"But…why?" Carl asked. Natalie only shook her head.

"I can't tell you why. I can only tell you it's for your safety…and mine. Please, do this for me." She knew she sounded earnest but she needed the children to understand the importance of her request. The children looked unconvinced but both nodded up at her, silently complying with her request. Natalie reached out gently and took the first aid kit from Sophia's grasp.

"I'm going to need this back Sophia, and Carl, I'm going to need that gun back." When he had handed her the weapon she straightened.

"From now on, stick with your parents. They'll keep you safe. You both are so precious to them and you don't know what it'll do to them if they lost either one of you." Natalie felt her own rising emotions but fought them down, remaining stoic. She didn't want the children to see how affected she was. Natalie turned them around.

"When I reach the treeline over there, you go around the corner. The whole development is a square. If you travel down that side, your group should be right around the next corner. If you get into trouble…holler. I won't be far off. Now _go_." She ordered. Natalie started backing away from them, feeling the dread in her stomach. She didn't want to leave them but she knew they would soon be safe. With one last glance she turned around and headed into the woods, turning only when she knew she was out of sight of the children but they hadn't left hers. She watched them as they walked around the corner of the development and made her way to the woods so she could position herself to watch them walk toward the side that would lead them to their families.

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Rick looked back at Daryl and Shane and signaled with his hands. One, two, three…and they threw themselves around the corner, raising their weapons to aim at whatever was on the other side. Their weapons were quickly lowered and eyes went wide when they saw the two little figures approaching in the distance. With a joyful cry Rick ran toward the kids with Daryl and Shane hot on his heels, and the kids started running towards them.

When Rick reached Carl he fell to the ground, his face buried in his son's neck. Sophia clung to his side as well and he put his arm around her as well. Shane stood back, smiling at the happy scene in front of him. He didn't want to interrupt, but at the same time he wished that Carl had run to him first. He knew Carl wasn't his son but he still felt protective of the boy as if he was his own. Shane's thoughts were interrupted when Carl left his father's embrace and ran to him, hugging him around the middle. Rick stood up and Sophia clutched his hand.

"Where's my momma?" She asked wildly.

"She's back with everyone. We'll get you two back but first how did you guys get out of there?" Sophia and Carl exchanged a glance that didn't go unnoticed by Rick or Shane and Carl looked up at his father.

"I found a gun in one of the houses. We ran and found the back gate. There were some keys so we unlocked it but I lost the gun inside. I shot a couple of the walkers thought Dad!" Sophia nodded vigorously, confirming his story.

Rick shared his own glance with Shane and looked down at his son. Carl had never been a good liar and it showed all over his innocent face. The fact that Carl was lying about how they escaped disturbed him, but for the moment he didn't care. He knew Lori would be angry later about him having to shoot walkers, but he knew her first reaction would be joy on seeing their son alive and well. Hopefully she could forgive him for having to drag her out of the earlier scene. He took Carl's hand and Sophia's and started the short walk back to the group, Shane close behind them. It took him a second to realize Daryl wasn't right behind them. He turned and saw the hunter staring into the woods, his eyes squinting at something unknown.

"Daryl! You coming?" Daryl didn't turn and continued staring into the woods. He could have sworn he saw something move. He got that feeling he got when he was tracking something and another animal was in the area-that feeling of being watched. He had gotten that feeling the night before when Glenn and Dale had been fixing the RV. He could have sworn he saw a shadow in the large tree on the far side of the development, but there was no way he was stumbling off into the dark to investigate phantom shadows.

"Daryl?" Rick's voice snapped him back to the present and he looked at the officer. Glancing back at the woods, whatever he thought he had seen had vanished.

"Comin," he grunted. He sauntered toward them, hanging back a little. He didn't want to be a part of the hoopla that was going to occur when the kids were reunited with their parents. The last thing he needed was to get himself involved in the drama of the group. He could hear the joyful cries as the children were reunited with their mothers and he turned again to look back at the spot. He saw a movement, and his eyes zeroed in. There was definitely something out there. Whatever it was had ducked behind a tree. Friend or foe, he couldn't tell. He made a mental note to tell Rick of what he saw, but would do so later. For now, they needed to get the group somewhere safe. Daryl slowly turned and walked back to the group.

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Natalie felt her pulse racing and she had to breathe evenly to slow it down. The man with the crossbow had seen her. She knew he had. She had been watching the happy reunion between the curly-haired man and Carl, and she felt her chest grow warm. This was something she had missed, the human affection. Then, the little girl had come and clung to him and he had hugged her too. The warm scene almost made her smile, but then she noticed the man with the crossbow staring into the woods. She thought he had missed her but then his eyes had caught hers and she could barely breathe. She was so distraught she had ducked behind a tree, causing more of a disturbance than she meant to.

With a deep breath she peeked around the tree and saw the man with the crossbow heading around the corner of the development, following the children and other men who had already disappeared.

"_Nice going moron,"_ she thought to herself. "_Could have gotten yourself caught._"

"_Or you could have found yourself a group that could get you food and heal you up. There's still time sweetie. You can show yourself to them, they seem ok._" Mark's voice sounded warm and comforting, urging her to go seek out the group.

"_We thought the other group was ok too._" Natalie mentally argued.

"_You can't go through this life not trusting anyone Nat. It's going to get you killed. And I can't see that happen. Neither can Cory._"

Natalie felt her brow furrow. "_You know what I have to do. Phillip is the priority. This was just a slight distraction. I have a job to do. Let me do it. Besides, if I were to go with them all it would do is put them in danger. Phillip wants to find me and if he were to find me with that group...the children will be in danger._"

Mark's voice now came out sad and distant. "_You can survive this world honey, but not like this. Don't let what happened to us get you killed._"

"I won't," Natalie said aloud and then quickly quieted herself.

"All I need to do," she whispered, "Is get this wound stitched up, get some more supplies, and then I'll be able to do what I've been training myself to do for the last three months. Those children are not my concern anymore."

With newfound resolve she pushed herself from the tree, feeling the pain in her side but ignoring it. She was aware that Mark had not answered her but she didn't stop to wonder why. She was going to do what she had set out to do. She was going to find Phillip, and she was going to kill him. Painfully.


	8. All By My Lonesome

**AN: Hi! Sorry this chapter is quite a bit shorter, just couldn't figure out the best way to end it. I'll have another up soon. Anyway, thanks so much for reading! I love feedback so please feel free to leave any thoughts you have, good or bad :)**

**NL March: Thank you so much for your reviews. They make me happy every time I see them. Get ready for a little twist soon :)**

**HermioneandMarcus: Thank you so much for your continued support. I'm glad you like the story.**

_Two weeks post-outbreak:_

_Natalie sat huddled against Mark, the fire roaring in front of them the only light probably visible for miles. Cory sat between her knees and she ran her hands through his hair, massaging his scalp. Mark's arm tightened around her as he stared absentmindedly into the fire. She looked around the circle at the other faces in their group that had accumulated over the past two weeks. There were only twenty of them now, after the herd had blown through their camp. They had lost at least eight people. Now, everyone looked bone-weary and exhausted._

_She looked across the fire at Phillip. He was looking at the ground, his head in his hands. The man had barely said a word for the last two days, ever since Penny..._

_Natalie had to stop herself from thinking about it. Mark hadn't said much since they came back from trying to find her. He had, however, recounted how Phillip, Mark, and Brian, Philips's brother, had found Penny's body after she had accidentally been shot by a small group of hunters. As the hunters tried to run away, Phillip and Brian had both gunned them down mercilessly. Mark had indicated that he could hardly blame them—the hunters had treated Penny's death callously. The worst part, however, was when they were carrying Penny's body back to the camp she had started to reanimate. Before she was even fully active, Phillip had simply dragged her back into the woods, saying he wanted to take care of her himself. To top it off, Brian had been killed by walkers that very afternoon. Natalie didn't know how the man was still standing._

_Giving Mark's knee a squeeze and a kiss to Cory's head, Natalie got up, heading over to the other side of the fire. She walked over and sat down in the empty spot beside Phillip. He didn't move or look up at her, just continued staring at the ground. She observed the man who sat next to her. He had brought her family to a group, to safety. When she and Mark had gone back to the highway to salvage some of their supplies from their car, they were met with a wave of death and destruction. Bodies in cars, wrecks, fires—they were everywhere. In the last week they had faced the same type of dangers, and they had all survived, together. Natalie felt like she could count every member in the group as a friend._

_"Hey Phillip," She started softly. "Do you need anything? We were able to scavenge some food from cars the other day. Can I get you something?" The man didn't answer her, just continued to gaze at the ground._

_Natalie felt a wave of sorrow for Phillip. He had done so much for her family and for the others in the group, and in return he had lost those most important to him. Knowing she didn't have the words, Natalie put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. With a flinch Phillip shifted his shoulder, shaking her off. He didn't look up at her._

_With a sigh, Natalie backed off, giving the man his space. Before she turned to head back to her own family, Natalie whispered, "I'm so sorry Phillip."_

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It had been one week since the incident at Wilshire Estates—the longest week of Natalie's life.

Natalie leaned against the tree, taking a moment to rest. She breathed slowly, feeling the fresh stitches she had had to put in the day before pulling at the edges of her wound. In the last week she had managed to rip the stitches twice, once when she was climbing a tree to sleep and the other when she was running from a group of walkers and tripped over a raised tree root. Pulling up her shirt, Natalie prodded gently around the area on her side where she had fallen on the glass. It was enflamed and hot to the touch, so it didn't take a genius to realize that it was infected. Natalie probed gently with her fingers, hissing through her teeth as the pain radiated outward from the wound. She twisted her neck downward and to the side as far as she could to examine it since it was located in such an awkward position on her body. Her examination was interrupted by a coughing fit that had her doubled over, the wound radiating as her body shook. When the fit subsided she straightened, wiping the tears and mucus from her face. She felt her forehead, knowing the fever that had crept up on her was only getting worse. On top of stitches, being outside in the rain at Wilshire Estates combined with sleeping outside the whole week had caused her to get sick.

Natalie pushed herself slowly away from the tree. She was determined to find a place to sleep that didn't involve climbing or sleeping in the dirt. Natalie traipsed along, angry at how her plans had gone totally askew since she had helped the group at Wilshire Estates. On the one hand, she was happy she had helped Carl and Sophia get to safety. On the other, she was now sick, wounded, without supplies, and had no idea what direction she was going. When she had left her bag in the development she had left behind the compass she had been using and although Mark had tried to teach her to know the cardinal directions by the position of the sun, it had been grey and overcast all week. At this point she had no clue if she was walking in circles or directly into the clutches of Phillip.

That was the other part of the situation that made her angry. When she had left the development she was determined to find Phillip's camp and finish him off. She knew that Phillip knew the area around Waynesboro the best and would not want to move too far away from his comfort zone. If anyone had even hinted that they should move further north into the mountains, Phillip had always shut them down insisting they stay in the immediate area. She had a plan in her head to go to the edge of Waynesboro and keep a look out for people going on runs for supplies. She figured someone would come by, she could take them hostage, and then sneak her way back to Phillips's camp. Only, she hadn't ever made it to Waynesboro. It was too far away and in her weakened state she would never have been able to make it.

On top of everything, she hadn't heard Mark's voice all week. She knew that her mother and father would have told her she needed to let the ghosts of her husband and son rest, but at the same time her conversations with him were all that kept her going. Natalie was growing increasingly despondent at the thought of never talking to him, or anyone else for that matter, ever again.

Natalie trudged through the woods, her steps feeling like she was walking through molasses. The area around her ear throbbed, her breathing was labored, and the pain in her side was excruciating. She was beginning to wonder if she was going to find anywhere to rest when she stopped in her tracks, a small cry of relief escaping her throat. Ahead of her in the clearing was a farmhouse, and even though it was dilapidated and weather-beaten it was the most welcome sight she had seen in a long time.

Approaching the house with caution, she tip-toed up the front porch steps. Natalie wanted to make sure there were no signs of walkers before she attempted to make herself at home. In her weakened state she couldn't handle more than one. Moving as quietly as she could, Natalie drew her knife, opened the front door, and started casing the first floor. Finding no signs of living or the dead, she silently crept up the stairs, stopping to take a breath. She couldn't move fast without feeling dizzy. At one point a stair creaked underneath her shoe and she had to pause for fear she would be discovered. When she didn't hear any hisses or angry shouts, Natalie crept the rest of the way up the stairs. After casing the second floor, she determined there were no walkers in the house. She walked back downstairs carefully, pausing when she heard the clatter of metal hitting the kitchen floor.

Keeping her knife out, Natalie walked silently down the rest of the stairs and down the hallway toward the kitchen. She paused at the door, straining to hear any sort of movement. She heard a slight creak of floorboards but no hissing. With her grip tightening on the handle Natalie pushed the door open and raised the knife above her head. She started to bring the knife down but abruptly paused mid-strike when she saw the small figure standing in front of her.

"Sophia?" She asked in astonishment. The little girl immediately launched herself into Natalie's arms and they fell into a heap on the floor.


	9. Unpleasant Reunion

**NL March: Thank you so much for your continued support. Read on to find out where the twist heads :)**

"Argh, Sophia, watch it!" Natalie growled fiercely, while the girl lay on top of her and hugged her tightly around her middle, right over her wound.

"Natalie, oh my God!" Sophia's eyes welled up with tears and she started sobbing, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably as she buried her face in Natalie's neck.

"Sophia, what the hell? What are you doing here? Are you hurt?" Natalie put her hands on both sides of Sophia's face and pulled her head back gently so she could look in the young girl's face. It was streaked with dirt and she had a couple scratches across her cheeks. The little girl could barely talk she was crying so hard.

Feeling guilty for her gruff tone earlier, Natalie tried to soften her tone. "Sophia, can you get up? I've got stitches here and you're lying right on top of them."

Sophia quickly moved off of her and Natalie winced as the pressure moved off her side. She pushed herself into a sitting position, the pain in her side agonizing due to the infection and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. When she managed to struggle into a sitting position, she propped herself against the kitchen cabinets. She looked over at Sophia, who was sitting hugging her knees to her chest, her short brown hair hanging in strands around her young face.

"So, maybe you can tell me what's going on Sophia. Where's your group? I thought you all would be long gone by now." Natalie said, watching the young girl carefully.

Sophia's eyes started watering and Natalie feared she would start crying again. Instead, Sophia shook her head. "They're not here. I…I don't know where they are."

Sophia buried her face in her knees and Natalie studied her for a moment. "What do you mean you don't know where they are? You all were together less than a week ago. What happened?"

Sophia proceeded to tell Natalie about how the group had gotten stopped on the highway when the RV broke down, and how a large group of walkers had made everyone hide under their cars. Sophia told her of how she had been chased by walkers into the woods and Mr. Grimes had told her to hide in the brush and then run back to the highway after he led the walkers off.

"And then when I started running back there was another walker sitting there eating some kind of animal, but he saw me and started coming after me. I ran forever and I tried to find the highway, but it started getting dark and I had to hide. I've been here ever since." Sophia finished her story and put her chin on her knees, gazing at Natalie through tired brown eyes.

"So, how long have you been out here?" Natalie asked, not sure if she wanted to know.

"Two days…but now you're here and everything will be fine." Her hopeful tone made Natalie quirk an eyebrow.

"And why do you say that?"

"Well…because you helped Carl and I get out of that place with all the walkers when you didn't have to. I know my momma would say I'm safer with an adult around, and I think so too." Natalie eyed the little girl. She wasn't sure how to respond to the girl's confidence in her but was saved from saying anything when she doubled over in a fit of coughs. Her shoulders shook as she felt the rattle in her chest that had gotten progressively worse. She coughed until tears came to her eyes and she felt the sweat break out on her forehead. When it subsided she looked up to see Sophia with a startled expression.

"What," Natalie asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Do I have something on my face?"

Sophia's face scrunched up and she got to her feet. "You're sick! Did…did you get bit?"

Natalie shook her head, leaning her head back against the cabinets. "No, just still have a scratch and I've been outside all week."

Sophia came forward tentatively and put her hand to Natalie's forehead. "My momma does this for me all the time. You're so warm. You must have a fever."

Despite herself, Natalie smiled. "Well, Dr. Sophia, I guess that means I need to get my rest. Actually, that's how I found this house, I was looking for a place to rest. Guess that makes us both lucky."

They sat in silence for a few moments, the enormity of their good fortune at finding each other starting to sink in. Natalie broke the silence, half-smiling in Sophia's direction.

"So let me get this straight," she said, leaning back against the kitchen counters to gaze at the little girl. "You're telling me you have been out here, in the woods on your own, for two days? And how are you still alive?"

Her voice carried a hint of admiration and Sophia's cheeks turned bright red. She fiddled with her fingers and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I just stayed quiet and out of sight. I tried to remember how you got us away from the walkers. You know how you were brave and said we had to hold ourselves together. I didn't cry once the last two days…until I saw you."

"Well, I'm here now. When I get my strength back, I'll get you back to your group. I'm sure they're worried sick about you by now." At this Sophia smiled.

The conversations turned to the members of Sophia's group. She described each of them in detail. Natalie learned about Carol, Sophia's mother, and how she was the best mother there ever could be and Sophia missed her terribly. When Natalie asked about Sophia's dad, Sophia immediately clammed up and Natalie had a feeling this was a topic that should be avoided for now.

Sophia described how T-Dog and Glenn had met in Atlanta while T-Dog was helping get some old people out of the city, and how Glenn knew how to get things they needed anywhere.

She talked about how Mr. Grimes had found his wife Mrs. Grimes and son Carl, and how he had gone through a lot to get back to them. According to Sophia, Carl was her best friend and she couldn't wait to see him again.

Natalie learned about Mr. Walsh, the police officer that was Mr. Grimes's best friend and how he had helped Mrs. Grimes and Carl get to safety when the military took Atlanta.

Sophia told her of Mr. Dixon and how he scared her when he heard his brother had been left behind in Atlanta and he had attacked Mr. Grimes, but he was the best hunter and got a lot of food for the group.

Lastly, she heard about Mr. Dale and Miss Andrea, and how Miss Andrea had lost her sister in a walker attack and Mr. Dale got her to leave the CDC when it blew up.

"You were at the CDC?" Natalie asked in disbelief. "When? Did you find anything out there?"

"We went there right after the walkers attacked our first camp, and before we showed up at that neighborhood where we first met you." Sophia said. "Dr. Jenner told us he found out some stuff but I didn't really understand what he was talking about. He locked us in the room with him and told us the CDC was going to blow up. Mr. Grimes had to talk him into letting us out and we had to get away before the building blew up. Miss Jacqui and Dr. Jenner didn't make it out. My momma said they both lost hope."

Natalie was leaning forward now, enthralled at the girl's story. This group had been to hell and back and they were still fighting for survival. They sounded strong, much stronger than the last group she had started out with. Natalie felt a surge of anger at hearing that they almost hadn't made it out of the CDC due to some man's psychotic death wish. She knew some people weren't meant for this world, but at least he could have gone down fighting instead of taking the easy way out. "He was a coward," she thought.

"Where are you from Natalie? You have an accent like the queen of England." Natalie was half-startled by Sophia's question. She wasn't interested in telling the young girl about herself.

"Well…I grew up in England but we moved to North Carolina when I started high school. I've lived there ever since." She said, hoping that would be enough to appease the girl.

"Oh! North Carolina, I've been there before. Do your parents still live there?" Sophia asked, leaning forward eagerly. Natalie suspected the girl wouldn't back off as easily as she had hoped.

"No, they moved to Charleston to retire. They live…they lived there until all of this happened." She said carefully, not wanting to divulge any more details. She didn't want to talk about Mark or Cory and the less the little girl knew, the less she could go back and tell her group.

"Why don't you tell me about this last week then? Did you see a lot of Georgia?" She asked, attempting to change the subject. Sophia smiled and started talking about some of the small towns they had driven through, taking the bait as Natalie had hoped.

They sat on the floor of the kitchen of the old house for a while, simply talking about their adventures from the past week. Sophia had scrounged up a few old cans of food that she had found in the kitchen cupboard. She showed Natalie the makeshift bed she had set up in the kitchen closet. Apparently the clatter of metal Natalie had heard was Sophia dropping a tin can she had been eating out of when she heard Natalie's footsteps on the second floor. Natalie could barely remember the last time she had simply sat and spent an evening with another person, a live person at that. She also couldn't remember the last time she had simply enjoyed an evening with another human being. She was almost reluctant to end the conversation when she saw Sophia start yawning.

Natalie was having a hard time keeping her own eyes open, but she didn't want to fall asleep, not with the little girl asleep near her. She also knew she didn't have the strength to go out and find them another shelter.

"Ok Sophia. It's probably time you get to bed. I'll stay up and keep watch." Natalie moved to get up and Sophia shook her head.

"No, Natalie you have to sleep too. You're sick and my momma always says I have to sleep when I feel bad." Sophia said stubbornly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ok, well what do you have in mind then? Because I sure as hell am not going to have us both sleeping unprotected and you are not keeping watch." Natalie crossed her arms and held Sophia's gaze. She could be just as stubborn as the little girl.

"Well…there are beds upstairs. We could go up there and sleep and just put something heavy in front of the door."

Natalie just sighed. "I don't know Sophia…"

"Come on, it'll be fine. I'll help you up the stairs." Sophia moved and put her hand out, waiting for Natalie to take hold. Natalie wanted to argue but she was so exhausted from the last week of constantly being on the run and the stress of being sick and wounded she didn't bother. She reached her hand out and with Sophia's assistance, hoisted herself to her feet. She walked slowly out of the kitchen and started up the stairs, the little girl behind her. Natalie had to stop and pause every few steps to catch her breath. She had started feeling worse as the evening wore on and thought Sophia probably had a point about needing to rest.

Natalie and Sophia made it to the second floor and went into what was probably once the master bedroom. They closed the door behind them looked around the room. Natalie looked around and noted the heavy duty oak furniture in the room.

"Here, we can put this against the door." She said, and walked to the side of the heavy oak dresser.

Together, she and Sophia pushed and shoved the dresser so it was in front of the bedroom door. Natalie rattled the door for a few seconds. Satisfied that nothing could push its way through, she moved to the windows and made sure the curtains were tightly shut. Sophia had found sheets and blankets in the closet, which would serve to keep them warm since the nights were getting colder. Natalie helped Sophia make the bed and started to make her own bed on the floor.

"What are you doing Natalie? There's room enough for you up here." Sophia protested. Natalie only shook her head.

"I can't get you sick. I'm fine sleeping on the floor here. Besides, this way I'm closer to the door should something happen." She eased herself down onto the floor and Sophia made herself at home in the bed. Natalie lay there, staring at the ceiling, when Sophia's voice drifted down to her.

"Natalie?"

"Yes Sophia?"

There was a pause, than Sophia spoke, very softly. "I'm glad you found me."

Natalie swallowed, staring at the ceiling. "Me too Sophia; me too."

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Natalie blinked as the sun shone through the crack in the curtains. She looked around the room, realizing she had slept the night through without waking up once. That was a change from how things were before. She started to sit up and it was then the wave of nausea hit her. She lay back and could feel the fever all over her body, her aching muscles screaming for relief. She was sweating profusely and there were tiny lights in the corner of her eyes. Not wanting to faint, she decided she needed to get up slowly. Carefully, she used her hands to slowly push herself up into a sitting position and propped herself against the wall. Natalie looked over to the bed and saw Sophia was still asleep, wrapped up in the big bedspread they had pulled from the closet. Natalie's side thought that Sophia looked like a human burrito was interrupted when a flash of pain ripped through her wounded side, making her almost lose her breath.

When the pain subsided Natalie lifted up her shirt, inspecting her wound. Although the area was stitched she had had to do so in very non-sterile conditions, and she could see the infection was getting worse. The redness and inflammation were spreading, and when she pinched at the side of the wound she could see crusty pus oozing out of the ends. When she heard Sophia stirring she quickly put her shirt back down, not wanting the little girl to see the extent of her injuries.

"Morning." Sophia said sleepily, sitting up in the bed with brown hair sticking out every which way. She ran her hands through her hair to get it under control.

"Morning," Natalie said, watching the young girl. She was just about to suggest they try to move the dresser when she heard a creak of floorboards in the hallway. Both she and Sophia froze. Natalie strained her ears, hoping she had been hearing things. There were a few moments of silence and she was beginning to hope she was mistaken when she heard it again—the unmistakable sound of the floorboards creaking in a slow rhythm, as if someone was walking very slowly in the hallway. As she listened, it sounded like the steps were getting closer.

Natalie flashed a glance at Sophia and put her finger to her lips, indicating silence was needed. They tensed and sat quietly. The footsteps moved back and forth in the hallway, slowly and systematically, as if whoever was out there was pacing in front of their room. Natalie saw Sophia put a hand over her mouth to stifle her whimpers, her large eyes filled with fear. Natalie didn't dare move for fear she would alert whoever was in the house to their presence.

After a few moments the footsteps paused, and then started getting faint as whoever was in the house made their way down the stairs. Natalie strained to hear, and only let her breath out when she heard the front door of the house slam shut. Waiting a few more moments and not hearing anything, Natalie grabbed the side of the bed and pulled herself up so she was standing. A wave of dizziness hit her and she had to sit down on the bed.

"Are you ok?" Sophia whispered urgently, crawling across the bed to her side.

Natalie nodded, taking slow deep breaths until the dizziness had subsided. "I'm fine, just still not feeling great."

Sophia put her hand to Natalie's forehead and frowned. "You're still really warm. We need to get you food, can you walk? I can help you down the stirs if you need me too…"

Natalie nodded. "I'm fine. I don't need help getting down the stairs, going up was more of the issue last night. Sounds like whoever was here left and I haven't heard anything since the door closed."

Sophia nodded in agreement. "Ok. I just need your help to move the dresser."

Together, they moved the dresser across the floor. Natalie pulled out her knife and slowly opened the door to the hallway, looking in both directions to see if whoever had been here had decided to stay. When she didn't see any signs of movement she walked into the hallway, leaving Sophia in the bedroom with her shotgun. Natalie didn't want the girl to come with her, simply because if anything did happen she wanted the girl to be able to make a hasty escape.

Walking slowly and carefully down the stairs, she kept her eyes open for any signs of whoever had come in the house . She crept through the rooms on the first floor, not seeing any signs of life…or the dead for that matter. When she was convinced there was no one in the house, she put her knife back in the sheath and relaxed. Natalie started to turn to go into the kitchen but instead found herself face to face with the end of an arrow.

"Don't move," the man holding the crossbow said, glaring at her. Natalie did as she was told, holding her hands up slowly. She glanced behind the man and saw the front door to the house was open. The fucker had been hiding on the front porch. Natalie brought her gaze back to the man in front of her.

"What do you want?" She asked, trying to put tremor in her voice. "I don't have anything, please don't hurt me." She tried to raise her voice so Sophia could hear. She knew if she could warn her that the girl would stay quiet and hidden if she thought there was trouble.

"Calm down dammit," the man growled his voice a little louder now. "Not gonna hurt ya if ya don't do anythin' stupid."

"What…what do you want then?" Natalie asked, her voice still slightly shaking.

"Why were ya hidin' upstairs? I know ya heard me." The man continued pointing the cross bow at her.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "Can't be too careful nowadays. I try to avoid people…alive or dead."

The man nodded, showing he understood. "How long ya been here?"

"Just a day. Stumbled on this house last night. Figured I could have a real place to sleep besides a tree." Natalie leaned against the wall, trying to act nonchalant.

"You the only one here?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm the only one here." She said, and the man's scowl only intensified.

"Ya better not lie ta me." He leveled the crossbow at her head to emphasize his point.

"Why would you think that?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There're tin cans in there, freshly opened. And there's a little bed in the closet. From the looks of it ya can't eat that much and yer not big enough ta fit in a kitchen pantry." His eyes moved over her, and Natalie felt like he was sizing her up. "I'll ask ya again…there anyone here with ya?"

"And I'll tell you again. There isn't anyone else here." She had barely finished her sentence before she suddenly lunged toward him, pushing the crossbow up. The weapon went off and the arrow bounced harmlessly off the ceiling. Natalie tried to grab for the knife that was attached at the man's hip, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. "Get out of here! Go!"

In her weakened state she was no match for the man and he quickly had her pinned beneath him, his hands wrapped around her throat. He was squeezing the breath out of her and she was far too weak to fight him off. She could feel the edges of her vision darkening when she heard the sounds of small feet rushing down the stairs.

"NO!" She heard Sophia scream. It was the last thing she heard before everything went dark.


	10. No Chance to Run

**AN: First off...I have to apologize. I am so so so so so sorry that this is so long over due. I have been packing, moving, travelling, spending time with family...namely real life has gotten in the way of everything. So, here's a short update, and I think I'm going to be keeping the chapters short from now on to get them out much quicker. **

**HermonieandMarcus: Thank you so much for continuing with this story. I appreciate you staying with it :)  
**

**NLMarch: Thank you so much for your thoughtful reviews. I really appreciate it and hope you continue to like where the story goes :)  
**

**Ok, onto the story (and I don't own anything Walking Dead, except my OC!):**

Natalie could hear the voices before she could see them. Her eyes opened slowly, taking in the dimly lit room around her. She was in a bed, tucked under a quilt. It felt slightly surreal to be tucked into a soft bed when she had been sleeping in trees and ditches only days before. The room was filled with rustic style furniture and the open window let in the dimming light of dusk and a soft breeze that fluttered the lace curtains. It reminded her of the old historical plantation homes she and Mark had loved to tour. His love of history kept them coming back to homes like this and she remembered he had promised to someday fix up a home like this for them. Fighting to not get lost in painful memories, Natalie dragged her attention back to the current situation. There were two, maybe three voices at her count and it sounded like there was a very heated debate going on.

"…can't just take someone in we find wandering in the woods." She caught the tail end of a man's deep voice. It sounded angry, which immediately made her tense. Where the hell was she?

"She's sick Shane, tell him Hershel." This voice was soothing, with the slight southern lilt Natalie remembered Mark's parents used to have from years of living in their non-native North Carolina. And Shane, wasn't that the name of one of Sophia's group members?

"What Rick's saying is true. She had a fever and a very nasty infection in that wound in her side. All I can say is it was by the grace of God your man found her when he did. She would have died in a matter of days." A voice said calmly, presumably Hershel. It sounded comforting, like someone who had perfected their bedside manner over the course of many years. Natalie guessed he was a doctor—or an insane minister that relied on God to heal the sick. If he was the latter she intended to have a long talk with him about the "grace of God." She found that concept laughable nowadays.

"Mighta been better for all of us if she did die. Now we got a stranger sleepin' not more than ten feet from us that tried to kill Daryl. I tell ya Rick, we either get rid of her or she needs to leave." The man with the deep voice said tersely.

"She had Sophia with her, Shane. For all we know she rescued the girl and was just holing up waiting to get better," the man named Rick said. Natalie knew this name very well since Sophia said he was the leader of their group.

"Yeah but Sophia's not givin' us any straight information. She's been back for three days and when we ask her questions all she says is the woman, Natalie, whatever her name is, rescued her and she can't tell us anythin' else. That woman probably held her hostage or some shit and has her scared to death." The deep-voiced man named Shane hissed.

Natalie's ears perked up at the passage of time. Three days? She must have been worse off than she originally thought.

Natalie could hear Rick sigh. "I know it looks suspicious but we have to think straight here. When she wakes up we'll talk to her and get her side of the story. Until then, we'll keep a guard in place."

Natalie had heard enough. She struggled to sit up, slowly but quietly, determined to get the hell out of the house and back on her way. Trying to plan an escape was fruitless, she had to get out while they thought she was still incapacitated. She had made a blatant effort to steer clear of groups. "_Since the last group you were with worked out so well_," she thought darkly.

Once she was fully upright Natalie felt the pinch of pain in her side. Pulling up her shirt, Natalie could see the neat stitching holding her wound together. She tentatively prodded the area, noting the redness and inflammation had died down tremendously and it had even begun to slightly heal. Sliding out of the bed quietly, Natalie set her bare feet on the ground, feeling the hardness of the wood floor on her skin. As she stood up she noticed her reflection in the mirror hanging over the mirror, noting the soft pink t-shirt and green running shorts she wore. These were most definitely not her clothes. She was even wearing a bra, something she had forgone the last two months because the damn things kept breaking when she would climb trees and or fight walkers. This new world was definitely not kind to a person's wardrobe.

Natalie padded silently across the room towards the door with the lightness and stealth she had honed while living in the woods. Holding her breath, she pressed her ear against the door, straining to hear any sounds of people moving in the hallway. Although she heard nothing, Natalie knew she couldn't just march herself out of the house, not based on the conversation she had overheard between the men named Rick and Shane. Natalie had a fleeting thought of Sophia, but quickly dismissed any concern she might have felt. Since the girl was back with her group, she had to trust Sophia was safe with them. She backed away from the door and turned to scan the room.

Treading softly, Natalie opened the window by the bed, happy to see there was a roof just underneath the window. It would make the drop much less hazardous and in the fading light it would make it hard to see her slip out. She had opened the window and swung one leg out the window when she heard the door to the room open and a loud "Hey!" resound throughout the bedroom.

Natalie didn't have time to turn around before she felt herself being dragged roughly from behind back into the room and a heavy pressure tightened around her neck. Desperately she clawed at the object that was obstructing her airways, realizing it was an arm, thick with muscle and unforgiving. Natalie started kicking her legs in desperation, feeling the pulse starting to pound in her ears as her blood rushed from her brain. She could feel the edges of her vision darkening and instinctively swung her body to the right so her attacker's back was to the window. She dug her feet into the ground and pushed backward, running her attacker into the wall. It wasn't enough to make whoever was holding her let go, but it did loosen his or her hold on Natalie's neck. Natalie took in a large gulp of air before the arm on her neck tightened again. She writhed, twisting her body back and forth when another figure appeared in the doorway.

"Shane! What the hell are you doin'?" She recognized the sound of Rick's voice and the man she recognized as Carl's father rushed into the room, grabbing Shane's arm and wrestling the larger man away from her. A very slender woman with dark brown hair followed him closely behind, a look of horror on her face. The resemblance between this woman and Carl was striking and Natalie could only guess that this was his mother, Lori. She slumped against the wall, feeling worn from the struggle and realizing she really was not back to her full strength yet.

"She was tryin' to escape Rick! Was halfway out the window and would have probably run off back to her own group and gotten us all killed if I hadn't of stopped her," Shane was blathering, having wrenched himself from Rick's grip and was now pointing at her with an accusing finger. Natalie felt it necessary to fix a glare on him. She hadn't done anything to the prick and here he was trying to say she had it in for their group. She had just wanted to return a little girl to her mother and look where it had gotten her.

Shane was still raging and Rick held up a hand, trying to calm the clearly unhinged man. "Shane, come on now, we can't just get riled up like that. We have to hear her side of the story." Rick turned to face Natalie and she pressed herself against the wall, looking up at him defiantly. His eyes didn't hold the menace that Phillip's did, but they weren't entirely gentle either. He held a hand out to her, as if in a peace offering. "I think you owe us an explanation, Miss…" He paused, waiting for her to respond.

Natalie remained silent, instead fixing Rick with a glare of defiance. He sighed, as if he had expected this reaction. "Listen, we've done our part here and we've patched you up. We could have let you die out there, but we didn't. I think in return, a little thanks is in order. Your name will do."

Again, she didn't answer his question. Instead, her eyes flashed and furrowed her brow in anger. "Yeah, you helped me. Right after your guy…Daryl was it? Yeah, right after he almost choked me to death. I'd say I don't owe you shit." Natalie crossed her arms across her chest, determined to hold her ground.

"Why you little…" Shane reached out to grab her and Rick yanked the man's arm back and took a step in front of Natalie.

"Shane, this is not the way we do things, brother. Why don't you step outside to cool off so I can talk to our guest alone?" Shane brought his arm down with a huff and started toward the doorway.

"Rick, are you sure that's safe? We don't know what she's capable of." Lori asked worriedly, looking at her husband. She was still standing in the doorway, Natalie having forgotten she was still there.

Natalie snorted, ready to laugh at the woman's inane statement. "Lady, I can assure you as long as your husband doesn't try to choke me out I won't do anything to him."

Rick eyed Natalie for a second, then turned back to Lori. "I'll be fine. Let me just talk to her for a second."

With a last concerned look at Rick, Lori turned and walked out of the room followed closely by Shane. Rick turned back to Natalie and folded his arms.

"Alright, now that we're alone I'd like to ask you a few questions. I don't see how it would hurt for us to learn a little more about you and you about us."

Natalie shook her head, maintaining her defensive gaze. "I don't need to know anything about you and you don't need to know anything about me. I just found Sophia and was going to return her to your group when your man jumped me. I'm sorry I attacked him but as far as I was concerned he was a threat to us."

As she talked Rick was watching her thoughtfully. "Well, I get that you might have thought Daryl was a threat. But what I don't understand is how you came across Sophia in the middle of the woods. And why she won't answer any questions when it comes to you."

Rick sat down on the bed, crossing his legs as if he was settling in for a conversation over tea. "Listen, I don't think you're a bad person. Sophia was obviously in dire need of help and you gave that to her, and for that we're grateful. But you need to give me something else to go on, because right now half the camp believes you held her captive and the other half thinks you're a hero."

Natalie huffed in frustration. "Look, I didn't do anything to her. I came into the house because of my wound and found her. We talked, slept, and I told her I would bring her back here. End of story. Now will you please just let me go?"

All of a sudden Rick stood up, rubbing his hands on his pants. "Okay then, I'll walk you out."

He made toward the door and Natalie regarded him with suspicion. "What are you talking about?"

Rick turned back to her, the irritation in his voice evident. "Well, you want to go, I'll escort you down to the car. It's obvious we're not going to get anything out of you. You've done right by Sophia and we've done right by you, so I'd say let's let bygones be bygones." He opened the door to the room and motioned her out in front of him.

Natalie furrowed her brow. She was confused, but moved to go past the man. If he tried anything funny she'd be ready. As she walked into the hallway an open door to her left caught her gaze and her eyes were immediately drawn to a small figure in the bed. It had no shirt on and there were multiple bandages around his chest. Natalie froze in place, oblivious to Rick and his reactions. Her eyes raked over the small figure and she croaked the words without thinking, "Oh my God, Carl."

Rick froze behind her, grabbing her arm and forcing her to turn roughly to face him. "How do you know his name?" When Natalie didn't answer right away his grip tightened on both her arms, but Natalie didn't think to struggle. She was still stunned at the vision of Carl lying bandaged in the bed.

"I'm only gonna ask you one more time. How do you know his name?" Rick drawled slowly, his tone dangerous.

Natalie had to force herself back to the present moment. She looked at Rick squarely. "Sophia." She lied. "She told me all about your group." His grip was starting to hurt and Natalie struggled not to show her discomfort. She didn't want him to detect any sign of weakness.

Rick's grip loosened, but not by much. "But you know his name. You just acted like you _knew_ him. How do you explain that?"

Before she could answer, a voice from the bedroom made her and Rick both freeze. "Dad? Who are you talking to out there?"

"Carl, stay in bed, son." Rick commanded, his grip tightening again on Natalie's arms, his eyes signaling her to keep silent.

Unfortunately, Carl had already slipped out of bed and before Rick could shove Natalie away, Carl was standing in the doorway to his bedroom. At first he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes but when his eyes focused they went wide. His gaze zeroed in on her and Natalie wished she could sink into the ground. A grin spread across his features and his eyes lit up. "Natalie?"

Before Natalie could stop him Carl had hobbled out and given her a crushing hug around her midsection. He was seemingly unaware of his father's hold on Natalie. Rick's expression was one of shock and Natalie had to suppress an internal groan. Her desperate wish to slip out quietly and unnoticed had now been blown completely to hell.


End file.
